Buffalo mayor wants ‘sensible gun control’ following supermarket shooting

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown (I) said on Sunday that he wants to see more “sensible gun control” following the mass shooting at a supermarket in his city on Saturday that left ten people dead and three others injured. 

During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” moderator Chuck Todd asked Brown how Congress should respond, noting lawmakers haven’t listened to mayors’ complaints on the issue in the past. 

“Well, I would like to see sensible gun control. I would like to see ending hate speech on the internet, on social media. It is not free speech. It is not the American way,” Brown told Todd. 

‘We are not a nation of haters. We are not a nation of hate. We need to send the message that there is no place on the internet for hate speech, for hate indoctrination, for spreading hate manifestos.”

Brown also told Todd that he believes the mass shooting in Buffalo could be a real “turning point” on the issue of hate crimes in the U.S. 

“I’d like to see real, deliberate action taken on gun control and ending hate speech on the internet. I will be a stronger voice for that. I’ve heard from mayors all over the country in the aftermath of this incident. I’ve heard from mayors, actually, all across the world,” Brown said. 

“And I believe that what happened in Buffalo, New York yesterday is going to be a turning point. I think it’s going to be different after this in terms of the energy and the activity that we see.” 

Authorities announced on Saturday that they will investigate the supermarket shooting as a hate crime, noting the shooter targeted Black customers and employees at the supermarket. 

A white 18-year-old from Conklin, N.Y., Payton Gendron, was charged with one count of first-degree murder in connection with the mass shooting Saturday night.

In response, President Biden called for the end of “hate-fueled domestic terrorism” in the U.S. while expressing his condolences to the families who lost loved ones in the tragedy. 

“Any act of domestic terrorism, including an act perpetrated in the name of a repugnant white nationalist ideology, is antithetical to everything we stand for in America,” Biden said. “Hate must have no safe harbor. We must do everything in our power to end hate-fueled domestic terrorism.”