Trump on mass killers: "They're geniuses in a certain way"
After a lone gunman at an Oregon community college opened fire and killed ten people last week, Democrats clamored for stricter firearm regulations as a solution to end mass violence.
But Republican presidential contender Donald Trump believes enacting such legislation won't help -- shooters are "geniuses in a certain way" and will still be able to "break the system."
"No matter what you do, you're gonna have problems," Trump told NBC News in an interview that aired Sunday. "Because you have sick people. They happen to be intelligent. And, you know, they can be sick as hell and they're geniuses in a certain way. They are going to be able to break the system."
Determined killers, Trump continued, are still "gonna be able to get into a school or get into something."
"It's a horrible thing to say," he added. "And it's not even politically correct. But it's common sense. You're going to have problems no matter how good, no matter what kind of checks you do, you know, what kind of laws."
Instead, the GOP hopeful wants to focus legislative efforts on solving mental health problems, and for the nation to provide "better services, better doctors."
Even the mental health aspect, Trump admitted, would be a "very tough part" to address: "How do you take that person and say we're gonna institutionalize him for the rest of his life? It's very tough. He hasn't done anything yet."
Trump also wants the media to take some responsibility for helping to perpetuate "copycat" killings.
"I liked what the sheriff said last night, that he refuses to use his name," he said, referring to Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin, who said he would not use the name of the Umpqua campus killer. "He refuses to show pictures of him. But in the meantime, the news is all using his name. And everybody now knows his name. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you wouldn't cover it? Because I think that's part of the problem."
The billionaire businessman has vociferously defended Second Amendment rights before, and has even bragged that he owns a concealed carry permit from his home state.
"I have a license to carry in New York," Trump told supporters during a campaign stop in Franklin, Tennessee Saturday. "Can you believe that?... Somebody attacks me, oh, they're gonna be shocked."
A gun policy paper he released in September also shows that he backs a nationwide permit system to carry a concealed weapon, which he said was "a right, not a privilege."
Trump also discussed his new tax proposal, which he called a "very dynamic plan."
"Everybody's taxes are going down," Trump promised. "And some people won't pay tax. And the reason they're not gonna pay -- and I love the idea of having a little sort of fat in the game, if we can. But the fact is, these are people that are doing very poorly. I mean, they're making not a lot of money."
The plan, which doesn't require single people making less than $25,000 a year or married couples earning less than $50,000 to pay an income tax, is "cutting a lot" with most cuts benefiting "the middle income more than anything."