Speaker Ryan on CA Shooting: ‘We Need to Fix Our Mental Illness Laws,’ Handle ‘ISIS Inspirational Events’

In an appearance on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reacted to yesterday’s massacre at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA, and took on the issues of gun control, due process and mental health as they all pertain to these mass shootings.

“[W]hat we have seen in a common theme among many of these mass shootings is the theme of mental illness,” Ryan said “And we need to fix our mental illness laws, our policies. They’re outdated. And that is something that we are working on right now.”

Ryan touted efforts by Congress, part of which involves pending legislation to deal with “outdated” mental health issues.

“Without knowing the facts in San Bernardino, we also know that there are homegrown jihadists,” he added. “We also know that there are ISIS inspirational events, and we need to figure out how to handle that as well. There are multiple things that need to be addressed, and we are working on those that need to be addressed, including whether somebody is coming here or inspiring someone to do these things because of their ideological or religious reasons, or the mental health issue, which we know is a common theme among these shootings, and that’s something we’re working on right now.”

Co-host Charlie Rose pointed to President Barack Obama’s suggestion of a “no-fly list” for firearms, to which Ryan argued was a violation of due process.

“So with respect to the no-fly list, I think it’s very important to remember people have due process rights in this country, and we can’t have some government official just arbitrarily put them on a list,” he said.

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