http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/287049-wh-defends-obamas-comments-on-guns-after-dallas-shooting By Jordan Fabian - 07/08/16 03:28 PM EDT
The White House on Friday defended President Obama’s assertion that the nation’s gun laws could have played a factor in the Dallas police shooting.
“The president’s views about the impact that easy availability of guns has on our community is a significant source of concern for him,” press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters in Warsaw, Poland, where Obama is attending a NATO summit. “And too many innocent lives have been claimed because of the easy access people have to guns, in some cases, guns that were never intended to be on city streets."
At the same time, Earnest said that Obama was “just as clear that our foremost concern right now is consoling and supporting” the victims’ families and the Dallas community.
"I think the president was quite direct in his comments today indicating that our thoughts, first and foremost, are with the families of those who lost loved ones, and there is never a justification for carrying out acts of violence against law enforcement officers," the spokesman said.
Several Republicans blasted Obama’s reference to gun control, made during his initial response to the sniper attack that left five officers dead.
“Now is definitely not the time to get political,” former presidential candidate and Donald Trump surrogate Ben Carson said during a Friday morning interview on Fox News. “I guess the real issue is, you know, the president’s gonna start saying, ‘See? Gun control.’”
But others across the aisle, including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), said the president’s call to bring the perpetrators to justice struck the right tone.
The president suggested that stricter gun laws could prevent shootings like the one that took place in Dallas, even though Earnest acknowledged that the type of gun used is still unknown.
“We also know when people are armed with powerful weapons, unfortunately, it makes attacks like these more deadly and more tragic,” the president said. “In the days ahead, we will have to consider those realities, as well.”
