‘I will always protect the second amendment’: Tone-deaf Trump says his ‘obligation’ is to guns, after FSU mass shooting

Another day, another mass shooting in America, and surprise, surprise—Donald Trump is out here waxing poetic about how guns aren’t the problem, people are.

You’d think a guy who’s been indicted for everything short of stealing candy from a baby might want to sit this one out. But no, the man who once reportedly bragged he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose voters is doubling down on his crusade to protect the almighty Second Amendment. Honestly, given his own colorful legal resume, maybe it’s not all that shocking that he feels a kinship with the gun lobby.

The bloodshed that unfolded Thursday at Florida State University has left the campus community devastated and the nation experiencing yet another bout of collective déjà vu. At approximately 11:50 am, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner allegedly opened fire near the student union, killing two non-students and wounding six others. In a twist that highlights America’s complex relationship with firearms, Ikner is reportedly the son of a local sheriff’s deputy and apparently had access to his mother’s weapon.

Campus police confronted the shooter almost immediately. When Ikner failed to comply with commands, officers shot him, leaving him with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. He was promptly taken into custody and transported to a hospital, where he’s likely receiving better healthcare than many of the uninsured Americans who live in daily fear of being the next victim of America’s gun obsession. Meanwhile, FSU has canceled all classes and events through April 18, with several buildings remaining closed and athletic events in Tallahassee suspended through Sunday.

When asked if he’d consider any changes to gun legislation following this latest tragedy, Trump defaulted to his standard playbook. “I’m a big advocate of the Second Amendment,” he said. “The gun doesn’t do the shooting, the people do,” he further declared. When directly asked if the FSU shooting might warrant any—heaven forbid—changes to gun legislation, Trump’s response was a meandering word salad that somehow managed to include “I know the area very, very well. I know the school very well. I know everything about it. It’s Florida.” Thanks for the geography lesson, Mr. President! Good to know you’ve pinpointed Florida on a map.

Let’s clarify this– Trump’s sacred duty is to a sentence written in 1791 when “arms” meant muskets that fired three rounds per minute, not semi-automatic weapons that can unload 30 rounds in seconds. For a man who claims to “know everything” about FSU, Trump displayed a remarkable inability to express basic human empathy for the community.

But perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. This is, after all, the same president who once suggested we could solve COVID by injecting disinfectant. Clear communication in times of crisis has never been his strong suit. Neither has empathy, coherence, or appropriate timing. So as FSU mourns and America adds another school shooting to its ever-growing list, we can rest assured that our president is hard at work protecting… a constitutional amendment. Not people. Not students. Not public safety. Just good ol’ Amendment Two. Sleep tight, America.