Presidential candidate Rick Perry slams free-gun zones in US
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry says Americans should be allowed to take their firearms to movie theaters, pointing to the deadly shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana, last week.
The former Texas governor said Sunday the deadly shooting at the Grand 16 movie theater in Lafayette on July 23 proved that gun-free zones are "a bad idea."
"If we believe in the Second Amendment, and we believe in people's right to protect themselves and defend themselves, and their families," he said in an interview on CNN, when asked if a way to stop such violence would be to let moviegoers take guns inside.
Police identified the gunman in Lafayette shooting as 59-year-old John Russell Houser, who had a history of mental illness.
"I believe that, with all my heart, that if you have the citizens who are well trained, and particularly in these places that are considered to be gun-free zones, that we can stop that type of activity, or stop it before there's as many people that are impacted as what we saw in Lafayette," Perry said.
The former governor suggested that the problem of gun violence in the United States stemmed from a failure to enforce existing gun laws.
"I think we have the laws in place. Enforcement of those laws is what seems to be lacking, both in Charleston and here in Lafayette, Louisiana," he said.
Perry was referring to a racially-motivated shooting at a predominately black church in Charleston, South Carolina, which left nine worshipers dead, including a pastor, last month.
President Barack Obama has tried to impose new restrictions on guns following a series of high-profile mass shootings in the country.
However, a new report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, shows that gun production has more than doubled under Obama.
In an interview with the British broadcaster BBC on Thursday, Obama said he was most “frustrated” by the issue of gun control in the US. He acknowledged that he has failed to introduce meaningful changes to the laws.
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