House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said that the Minneapolis shooting suspect “never should have had access or been able to possess a firearm” based on what we know about the shooter’s mental health issues.
During an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” co-anchor Martha Raddatz asked Emmer about plans to prevent someone with mental health issues from enacting violence, to which he responded that the “mental health crisis in this country is one of the main problems that we are faced with today,” adding that “we’ve got to figure out how to deal with it.”
He added that if an individual identifies someone who might need help, it’s important to report them “to the appropriate authorities.”
“It’s not trying to tattle on someone, it’s literally trying to help them,” he said.
However, the Minnesota Republican noted that he doesn’t understand how the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Robin Westman, was able to legally obtain firearms “based on what little we already know.”
Last week, Westman opened fire at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis as children were attending back-to-school mass. Westman, armed with a rifle, shotgun and a pistol, killed two children, wounded several other children and adults. The suspected shooter did not have a criminal history, according to investigators.
“We’ve got another thing in this state, Martha, which I don’t understand, and we’re going to find out more because this young man never should have had access or been able to possess a firearm based on what little we already know,” Emmer said. “And somebody who had to know that, there’s a red flag law in this state.”
He added that someone “of their emotional state, the mental challenges that they have, the mental illness, cannot, should not possess a firearm because they’d be a danger to themselves and/or others.”
Raddatz mentioned that Emmer voted against the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act put forward after the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The bill provided millions of dollars for schools for mental health services expansion, enhanced safety measures and more. Emmer, however, said he didn’t remember why he voted against the bill.
“I don’t remember the reasons that I didn’t vote for that bill,” he said. “I’ve got to tell you, we did a lot for Uvalde, but you can’t replace those children, Martha. You can’t. And you can’t help that community. We’re talking about getting on the front end, Martha…We need to have the resources to face the threats.”
When Raddatz suggested the bill, which was signed into law in June 2022, would have done that, Emmer argued that “we need to get to the root cause.”
“That would have done that,” he continued. “That would have identified this young man’s mental health condition. That would have actually identified him as a danger to himself and the community before this ever happened.”
