Ron DeSantis dodges question on gun control hours after Iowa school shooting

Ron DeSantis was grilled on gun control in Iowahours after a shooting in the state killed a middle school student on the first day of classes in 2024.

Dylan Butler, 17, was named as the gunman who attacked Perry High School, killing one sixth-grader and injuring five others on Thursday. Butler was also found dead on the scene after the shooting.

Appearing on CNN’s town hall on Thursday, the Florida governor was asked, in light of the recent Iowa shooting, how he would address gun violence in schools.

He was asked by host Kaitlan Collins about the recent proposal by state senator Jonathan Martin to eliminate the statewide three-day waiting period to buy a rifle or shotgun and if he supported the movement.

Mr DeSantis turns from the host and addresses the audience, saying, “I think the background checks should be instant.”

He said that anyone who has a criminal conviction is a felon or has mental health adjudication will “ping” on a background check.

Collins returned to her original question about whether he supports the three-day waiting period to be removed.

“Are you okay with eliminating it,” she asked, to which DeSantis replied, echoing himself “I think it should be instant background checks.”

“Law-abiding citizens exercising their rights shouldn’t have to be on a mandatory waiting period,” he said.

“Instant checks will do the job.”

While Mr DeSantis did not give a yes or no answer, the proposal to eliminate the period has alarmed many across the state who fear this could make it easier for people to instantly access weapons, The Tampa Bay Times reports.

The bill proposes the wait to be removed, except for handguns.

If this policy is changed, it will undo a law that was put in place after the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida, which saw the massacre of 17 staff and students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The gunman, 18-year-old Nikolas Cruz, carried out one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.

This prompted the introduction of the three-day waiting period and changed the minimum age from 18 to 21 in Florida.

The governor also talked about other preventative methods for gun violence, citing how the Iowa shooting may have been carried out by someone with “serious problems.”

“We’ve done everything like school resource officers, help with hardening, but also help identify students that are exhibiting really problematic behaviour,” DeSantis said, according to CNN.

“We’re getting more information about what happened in Perry, but it seems like this student had some serious, serious problems.”

He also spoke to NBC on Thursday, sending his support to Iowa, but said dealing with shootings is “more of a local and state issue” when asked about any changes he would make to federal law that would reduce shootings.

At a caucus event, Mr DeSantis was questioned again about what he would do about gun violence if he took office as president, naming the recent tragedy in Iowa.

While he didn’t give a precise answer, he said when crime happens “some of these prosecutors are not prosecuting” and more people need to be held “accountable.”

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has also weighed in on the gun control debate after the shooting in Iowa.

While in Iowa for a campaign event on the day of the shooting, the event was cancelled and was turned into “prayer and open conversation.”

Mr Ramaswamy criticised any call for stopping guns in the US and said that the “real ailment at the heart and soul of our nation” is “the loss of purpose.”