Trump: Gun laws have 'little to do' with Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and 'results would have been better' if there were 'protection' within the synagogue
- President Donald Trump said gun control laws had "little to with" the shooting that left at least eight people dead Saturday morning at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
- Trump suggested if there was "protection inside [the synagogue], the results would have been far better."
- Trump was speaking just over an hour after Pittsburgh police confirmed they had taken a suspect into custody amid "multiple casualties" inside the synagogue.
President Donald Trump said gun control laws had "little to with" the shooting that left at least eight dead Saturday morning at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Trump was responding to a reporter who asked if he felt compelled to "revisit gun laws" after a gunman opened fire while shouting anti-Semitic slurs at a Saturday morning prayer service at the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue.
Trump, speaking just over an hour after Pittsburgh police confirmed they had taken 48-year-old Robert Bowers into custody, said that if the synagogue had "protection inside, the results would have been far better."
A reporter later asked if Trump meant that all places of worship should have armed guards. Trump replied that it was "certainly an option" to what he said was "a world with many problems."
"Certainly, you want protection," Trump said. "They didn't have any protection, they had a maniac walk in."
Trump then expressed his sadness in following reports of the attack, which he had previously tweeted about watching unfold.
"Before I ran for office, I'd watch instances like this with churchs, and other things," Trump said. "I'd say, what a shame ... but it is even tougher when you're president of the United States and you have to watch this kind of thing happen."
Local media and NBC News reported that the attack left at least eight dead and 12 injured, including three police officers.