Asked about President Obama’s executive actions on guns, several Republican candidates said he should focus instead on expanding access to mental health care rather than restricting firearms.
“It’s not the guns that pull the trigger, it’s the people who pull the trigger,” Donald Trump said at the GOP Fox Business debate Thursday night, noting that many states have shuttered in-patient facilities for the mentally ill due to budget constraints.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said that instead of placing more restrictions on gun sellers and purchasers, Obama should work with Congress to pass mental health reform.
“Why not go to Congress and in a bipartisan way begin to deal with mental heath issues so people spiraling out of control with mental health issues don’t have access to guns,” Bush said.
All of the GOP contenders have widely criticized a series of executive orders Obama announced this month. But Obama also included a request for Congress to approve $500 million in new spending on mental illness prevention, something Republicans haven’t yet moved on, although House Speaker Paul Ryan has said mental illness will be a priority for him this year.
