Nashville Mayor David Briley (D) demanded more gun control laws after a man, who had his firearms seized in 2017, opened fire on an Antioch, Tennessee, Waffle House.
CNN quoted Briley saying:
I know that we all want to live in a safe environment that allows everyone to go to work or school and feel and be safe. We all want to live up to our greatest potential, and it’s my responsibility as the mayor of Nashville to try and make that happen. Clearly the victims of this shooting deserve our prayers and our thoughts, but they also deserve leaders who will step up and take action and do something to get these weapons off our streets.
Briley did not mention that the alleged gunman, Travis Reinking, was arrested in 2017 near the White House and subsequently lost his Illinois’ Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card. As a result, sheriff’s deputies seized his firearms August 24, 2017.
Reinking’s guns were given to his father because his father had a valid FOID card. They now fear the father passed the guns back to the son.
Mayor Briley’s calls for gun control overlook the fact that Reinking’s FOID card was revoked and his guns seized. Briley’s statement also overlooks the fact that Waffle House restaurants are gun-free zones. So, while Reinking allegedly used an AR-15 in his attack, it should be noted that any gun would have done the job because none of the victims had the ability to defend themselves.
Nevertheless, Briley places blame on the fact that AR-15s are legal to own, saying, “Last night, innocent Nashvilleans were terrorized by a man with an AR-15. Let’s be honest. Some people see these weapons as having a purpose of terrorizing other people. It’s happening too much. Enough is enough.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.