Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., said Wednesday that politicians need to focus on school safety in the wake of last week’s school shooting in his home state, and not gun control.
“I was listening to what you said before I came on, and if I can just say, this isn’t about gun control. It isn’t. We have to stop talking about that,” Deutch said on MSNBC.
“Ask politicians, ask people who represent their constituents if they support school safety, if they support public safety, if they support talking action to prevent more slaughters like the one that happened in Parkland from happening anyplace else,” he said. “That’s the way this debate has to go, and because of these kids I think that’s the way it’s going to start being addressed.”
Deutch’s remarks are in line with how Democrats have responded to the most recent shootings. After the Las Vegas shooting last year, Democrats spoke about the need to end “gun violence” or promote “gun safety,” but few talked about “gun control” after years of failed attempts to reinstate the assault weapons ban or take other steps to ban the most dangerous weapons.
