Jeb Bush: Charleston shootings wouldn't have been prevented by Obama proposals
Jeb Bush told an audience today in Henderson, Nevada that "not a single one" of the mass shootings in recent years would have been prevented by President Obama's gun control ideas, and that more emphasis should be put on the role of mental health in gun violence. Bush's comments came just a day after President Obama said that the nation had been, "blind to the unique mayhem that gun violence inflicts," for far too long.
Answering an audience question about his stance on gun control, Bush said that, "all of these tragic incidents that have taken place in the past few years, are heartbreaking," but that, "not a single one of them would have been stopped by any of the ideas proposed by Barack Obama." The Republican candidate referring to alleged killer Dylann Roof as the "racist in Charleston," instead argued that, "we as a society better figure out how we identify these folks long before they feel compelled to take up a gun and kill innocent people."
On Monday, Bush heads to Charleston, South Carolina to meet privately with community faith leaders who he described Saturday as having shown, "incredible love and compassion" in the wake of the shooting.
During a press conference held in the hallway after the town hall in the gymnasium had ended, the former Florida governor responded to reporters' questions about the recent Supreme Court decisions upholding Obamacare and the right to same-sex marriage. Bush said that he was "disappointed" by both decisions. He described a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage as "unrealistic," calling for an environment where, "people aren't discriminated against," while also allowing "people to act on their religious conscience."
On the subject of Obamacare, Bush had told the town hall audience that his solution would be to replace it with a system that provides people with access to a high-deductible, low-premium catastrophic coverage.
Bush also touted his own openness and willingness to "step outside his comfort zone," in contrast to the Democratic candidate, former Secretary State, Hillary Clinton. He drew audience laughter when he invoked Clinton's Scooby Van, saying. "I will make mistakes along the way because I'm going to campaign outside my comfort zone. I'm not going to be in a little protective shell, I'm not going to be inside of a bubble. I'm not going to go on my Scooby Doo van and have everything screened out."