Speaking to Newsmax on Friday, Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., called for the open carrying of guns on college campuses after the shooting in his state this week that killed two people and wounded six others.
Just before noon on Thursday, someone drove to Florida State University in Tallahassee, got out of a vehicle, an orange Hummer, and started shooting.
Police shot and arrested a suspect, identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, the stepson of a sheriff's deputy. Ikner may have been a student at the school.
Steube said on "Newsline" that the attack at FSU was "obviously very disturbing," adding: "We've prayed for the victims' families. We obviously don't know who those people are yet, but what a tragedy for them to have to experience."
He continued: "We know that we can't prevent evil in this world, but we need to do things to in order to prevent these type of things from happening. I want to thank the law enforcement for a very quick reaction."
Steube went on to promote his legislation to allow the concealed carrying of guns on college campuses, saying that "for years and years and years, I sponsored legislation … to allow concealed carry on university campuses. And time and time again, we have seen these lone gun shooters go after gun-free zones. Time and time again this has happened."
He went on to assert that :the statistics are like 80% of these people target gun-free zones. And Americans, law-abiding citizens should be able to defend themselves. And we'll never know if somebody would have been there to be able to defend very quickly from this."
Steube added, "But obviously, I want to thank law enforcement. We are praying for the victims' families. This is a type of evil that we should never have to deal with here in the United States."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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