Following the massacre at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, last Thursday, where 10 people were killed including the gunman, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump reacted by saying he does not believe that tighter firearms regulations—as pushed by President Barack Obama—will solve the problem of mass killings.
He said this is because mass killers are "geniuses in a certain way."
"No matter what you do, you're gonna have problems," the controversial business tycoon said in an interview with NBC News which aired last Sunday.
Trump said determined mass killers are still "gonna be able to get into a school or get into something" even with stricter gun control.
"Because you have sick people. They happen to be intelligent. And, you know, they can be sick as hell and they're geniuses in a certain way. They are going to be able to break the system," Trump said.
"It's a horrible thing to say. And it's not even politically correct. But it's common sense. You're going to have problems no matter how good, no matter what kind of checks you do, you know, what kind of laws," he added.
Instead of gun control, Trump believes legislative efforts on solving mental health problems will help address the problem of mass killings in the US.
He likewise blamed the media for supposedly encouraging "copycat" killings."
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if you wouldn't cover it? Because I think that's part of the problem," Trump said.
'Middle East safer with Gaddafi, Saddam'
Trump never seems to run out of controversial remarks. The Republican presidential hopeful also told NBC that he believes the Middle East would have been much safer now if Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein were still in power in Libya and Iraq, respectively.
Trump mentioned the two tragic leaders in relation to current efforts to drive Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out of power.
When asked by host Chuck Todd if the Middle East would be more stable if Gaddafi and Saddam were allowed to stay in power, Trump replied, "Of course it would be."
Syrian refugees likened to 'Trojan horse'
In a separate interview with Fox News, Trump also said that allowing Syrian refugees in the US can lead to an ISIS military offensive on American soil.
"This could become one of the great military coups of all time. This could be like a Trojan horse. 200,000 people coming into the United States and they come in here and we're totally unprepared," he remarked.
The Trojan horse is the hollow wooden statue of a horse where the Greeks concealed themselves to be able to enter Troy and defeat their enemies in Greek mythology.
