Friday at the Conservative Leadership Project in Greenville, SC, former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), a candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, said “stuff happens” during a discussion about gun violence.
Bush said,”We’re in a difficult time in our country and I dont think more government is necessarily the answer to this. I think we need to reconnect ourselves with everybody else. It’s very sad to see, but I resist the notion––and I had this challenge as governor, stuff happens, there’s always a crisis and the impulse is always to do something and it’s not always the right thing to do.”
In wake of yesterday’s shooting in Roseburg, OR resulting in the deaths of 10 people, the comments caused a Twitter frenzy, which caused Bush to tweet a response.
When asked by a reporter what he meant, Bush said he was not referring specifically to the Oregon shootings.
“Tragedies, a child drowned in a pool and the impulse is to pass a law that puts fencing around pools,” Bush said. “Well it may not change it. Or you have a car accident and the impulse is to pass a law that deals with that unique event. And the cumulative effect of this is, in some cases, you don’t solve the problem by passing the law, and you’re imposing on large numbers of people burdens that make it harder for our economy to grow, make it harder to protect liberty.”
Today at his White House press conference, President Barack Obama responded to Bush’s comments by saying, “I don’t even think I have to react to that one. The American people should hear that.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN