After the massive school shooting in Tennessee’s Nashville city raked up a debate over gun rights in the country, Republican senator Tim Burchett said that while the situation is horrible, “the government cannot fix it”. Burchett – who represents Tennessee’s second congressional district based in Knoxville – went on to compare the safety of school children with soldiers fighting a war, reported the Guardian.
“It’s a horrible, horrible situation, and we’re not going to fix it. Criminals are gonna be criminals. And my daddy fought in the second world war, fought in the Pacific, fought the Japanese, and he told me that if somebody wants to take you out, and doesn’t mind losing their life, there’s not much you can do about it,” Burchett said.
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Stating that “no one can stop gun violence”, the Republican senator added instead, “I think you got to change people’s hearts”.
On Monday, six people – two nine-year-old girls, a nine-year-old boy, two teachers, and a school custodian – died in a school shooting in Nashville. The shooter who was identified as Audrey Hale (28) – a former student of the school – was killed during the gunfire with police.
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According to the reports, Hale had drawn detailed maps of Covenant School before the shooting and was armed with three firearms.
The violence marked as the 90th school shooting in the United States this year, reported Reuters citing a website – K-12 School Shooting Database – founded by researcher David Riedman. As per the data, the US saw 303 shooting incidents last year.
(With inputs from agencies)