On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to Sunday night’s shooting at the University of Virginia that killed three people by using the tragedy as an opportunity to push unrelated gun legislation.
As reported by ESPN, “University of Virginia president Jim Ryan said three Cavaliers football players were shot and killed: junior receiver Lavel Davis Jr. of Dorchester, South Carolina; junior receiver Devin Chandler of Huntersville, North Carolina; and junior defensive end/linebacker D’Sean Perry of Miami.”
The suspect in the shooting was apprehended “without incident” just before 11 a.m. in Henrico County, Virginia and was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony.
In response Jean-Pierre released a statement pushing for a notoriously ineffective Assault Weapons Ban, despite the shooter using a handgun.
“The President and First Lady are mourning with the University of Virginia community after yet another deadly shooting in America has taken the lives of three young people. Our deepest condolences are with the countless families, friends, and neighbors grieving for those killed as well as those injured in this senseless shooting,” the statement said, adding, “We need to enact an assault weapons ban to get weapons of war off America’s streets. House Democrats acted, and the Senate should follow.”
While banning “assault weapons” would have had no effect on this shooting since it was committed using a handgun – bans on assault weapons have also been shown to be ineffective in general. For example, the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons ban had no effect on gun homicide rates. In fact, a 2014 study found “murder rates were 19.3% higher when the Federal ban was in effect.” Further, school shootings actually increased after the ban was passed.
