House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that Congress should focus on mental health and fixing the background check system instead of a weapons ban to help end mass shootings.
“We should not be banning guns from law-abiding citizens,” Ryan said after a closed-door meeting with Republicans Tuesday. “We should be focusing on making sure citizens who should not be getting guns in the first place don’t get those guns.”
Ryan, R-Wis., who has three school-aged children, said lawmakers are “very, very, very troubled,” by the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., but he would not endorse proposals to ban weapons like the AR-15 style rifle that the shooter used to kill 17 people.
Ryan added that the debate over whether to arm school teachers or other school employees should be left up to local officials to decide.
“As a parent, myself as a citizen, I think it’s a good idea, but as Speaker of the House, I think we need to respect federalism and respect local jurisdictions.”
Ryan, along with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who was grievously injured by a shooter who targeted GOP lawmakers last summer, said they were upset by the reported lack of response from Broward County deputy sheriffs who did not run into the school to confront the shooter. Instead, the deputies, who included a school resource officer, positioned themselves outside of the school until it was over.
Ryan said the FBI’s dismissal of a tip about the Stoneman Douglas High shooter, who appeared to have mental health problems and was making threats, needs to be investigated.
“There are bigger questions here than narrow law,” Ryan said. “What about law enforcement? What about school resource officers? What about the FBI? What about background checks? Those are things we have to get lots of answers to.”
The Senate could take up a bill as early as this week that would provide incentives and penalties to bolster reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, which is used by gun store owners to screen purchases.
The legislation, sponsored by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., is identical to House-passed language. But it excludes a House-added provision that would provide reciprocity for concealed-carry permit holders who travel to other states. The reciprocity language is a nonstarter in the Senate, where Democrats hold the power to filibuster.
“We obviously think the Senate should take our whole bill, but if the Senate cannot do that, then we’ll discuss it and cross that bridge when we get there,” Ryan said.
Ryan said the mass shooting “speaks to bigger questions of our culture,” such as the prevalence of violence and what it is teaching children.
