WASHINGTON, D.C. — State First District Congressman David McKinley says the response to the Orlando shooting has focused too much on gun control and restricting the freedom of Americans rather than on stopping Islamic terrorism.
The massacre left 49 dead and 53 wounded last Sunday when a man who pledged allegiance to ISIS opened fire in a gay nightclub. McKinley said on MetroNews “Talkline” last week that, predictably, the horrific incident has resulted in political posturing.
“This is again a classic example of someone taking advantage of a crisis,” McKinley said referring to President Obama and members of Congress pushing gun control. “That’s what Rahm Emmanuel (23rd White House Chief of Staff) kept saying. He said ‘don’t let a crisis go to waste.’ We need to be doing as much as dealing with this gun issue as dealing with terrorism.”
Terrorists will find ways to kill, guns or no guns, McKinley said, pointing out the numerous incidents where that’s been the case. On September 11, the hijackers of four planes were able to take over the aircrafts with boxcutters.
“They didn’t use guns in Boston, they used bombs. In Paris, they used bombs when they killed 130 people there,” he said. “This seems to be someone taking a political agenda and pushing it rather than what’s good for this nation.”
McKinley wanted to see a crackdown on not only terrorists themselves, but also those who would harbor or protect them.
“We’ve got to send a message to people that we’re serious about terrorism. And if you have information and you withhold it, then you also are guilty of the crime that this man committed.”
McKinley also criticized those in Congress, including U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), for taking the stance that there’s “too much due process,” in the United States.
“I’m astounded at that. Due process, the Fifth (Amendment) and the Fourteenth Amendment are the very fundamentals of our American freedom.”
McKinley also pointed out that there should be a focus on mental health in preventing mass shootings as well.
The Mountain State saw several events last week to support LGBT in the wake of the shooting, including vigils at WVU and at St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston.