Jacksonville sheriff SLAMS gun control narrative after racially motivated shooting

While many used the racially motivated shooting of three African Americans in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday as an opportunity to push for more gun control, County Sheriff TK Waters placed the blame on the individual, not the weapon.

He slammed those who pushed the narrative that the firearm was the problem, and urged people to see the crime for what it was, a bad guy with a gun.

"We have to stop people that have bad intentions," Waters said during a press conference following the shooting. "The story is always about guns. People are bad. This guy's a bad guy."

"If I could take my gun off right now, and I lay it on this counter, nothing will happen," he continued. "It'll sit there. But as soon as a wicked person grabs ahold of that handgun and starts shooting people with it, there's the problem. The problem is the individual."

Waters admitted that guns are "a tool that people use to do horrible things," but maintained that "it's the individuals that wield these things," adding that, "in this situation ... there was nothing illegal about owning the firearms."

In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris placed the blame on the gun, calling the legally obtained firearm "a weapon of war that should never have been on the streets."

She used the tragedy to push for a renewal on the Biden administration's plan to ban "assault weapons," saying legislation further restricting Americans' second amendment rights was "long overdue."

The incident in question took place around 2pm Saturday at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, FL. The body arrmor-clad suspect, 21-year-old Ryan Palmeter, carried out the attack with a Glock handgun and an AR-15 rifle. One of the guns was reportedly emblazed with a swastika.

After murdering Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr, 19, and Jarrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, Palmeter killed himself.

The shooter left three manifestos, one for his parents, one for the media, and one for authorities. Waters said the one he reviewed detailed a "disgusting ideology of hate," adding that there was "absolutely no evidence" he had been part of an organized group.