It is only the minority in the United States of America who want free access to guns. But as they are better organised and had more power than the majority, they "can block any legislation that seeks to control people from buying assault rifles," Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said in a Facebook post yesterday, Feb 18.
"That is democracy American style," he added.
The post was in response to the Florida shooting which happened just days ago, in which a 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire at his former high school, killing 17 and injuring at least a dozen others. Political leaders in the US, including President Donald Trump, have blamed mental illness to this incident. They also suggested that it was the responsibility of the public to warn officials of such dangers.
"It’s wrong to blame mental health. There are people with mental health issues in every country, including Singapore. America is not alone in having such people," Shanmugam said in the post.
"It baffles me that people are freely allowed to buy submachine guns, in an urban environment," Shanmugam wrote.