Trump on fatal shooting of WDBJ journalists: ‘This isn’t a gun problem — this is a mental problem’

Donald Trump says the fatal shooting of two journalists on live television should not be seen as another example of America’s problem with gun violence.

“This isn’t a gun problem — this is a mental problem,” Trump said on CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday, a day after WDBJ-TV reporter Alison Parker and her cameraman, Adam Ward, were killed in Virginia by a gunman who was fired from the station in 2013. “It’s not a question of the laws. It’s really the people.”

The 2016 Republican frontrunner called the shooter a “very sick man” and the shooting a “very sad commentary on one life.”

“In the old days, they had mental institutions for people like this because he was really, definitely borderline and definitely would have been and should have been institutionalized,” Trump said. “At some point, somebody should have seen that. I mean the people close to him should have seen it.”

He continued: “I guarantee you there are a couple of people that knew this man that did the killing yesterday that probably said, ‘Wow he’s really got problems. I mean he really should be institutionalized.’”

The gunman, Vester Flanagan, a 41-year-old former WDBJ-TV reporter who went by the name Bryce Williams on-air, had no known criminal history. And while authorities are still investigating the case, there is no indication Flanagan had a past history of mental illness.

Flanagan filed a federal discrimination lawsuit after being fired from a Tallahassee, Fla., television station in 1999, and police were called to escort him from WDBJ at the time of his 2013 firing.

ABC News said that it received a rambling 23-page fax on Wednesday morning from someone claiming to be Williams.

“I’ve been a human powder keg for a while,” one section read, “just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”

The TV truck that journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward drove before they were killed sits in a parking lot near the scene of the shooting. (Photo: Jay Paul/Getty Images)

Nonetheless, Trump suggested, Flanagan’s victims might have been able to save themselves had they been armed.

“I’m very much into the Second Amendment,” Trump said. “You need protection.”

“You’re not going to get rid of all guns,” he added. “If you tried to do it, the bad guys would have them … and the good folks who abide by the law would be hopeless.”

Trump’s comments were in sharp contrast to the reaction from Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, who called for stricter gun laws in the wake of Wednesday’s tragedy.

“We have got to do something about gun violence in America,” the Democratic frontrunner said. “There is so much evidence that if guns weren’t readily available, if we had universal background checks … that maybe we could prevent this kind of carnage.

“We are smart enough — compassionate enough — to figure out how to balance legitimate Second Amendment rights with preventive measures,” Clinton said.

Slideshow: CBS journalists shot and killed during live broadcast in Virginia >>

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dismissed Clinton’s call.

“It’s unfortunate that all too often we’ve seen from people like Hillary Clinton a political reaction to something that’s much more sophisticated and challenging than that,” Walker, a 2016 Republican hopeful, said during his own swing through Iowa Thursday. “The common thread we see in many of these cases is a failure in the system to help someone who is suffering from mental illness.”

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe also called on U.S. lawmakers to tighten American gun laws.

“There are too many guns in the hands of people that shouldn’t have guns,” McAuliffe told WTOP radio. “I still find it unimaginable that poor innocent victims’ lives can be taken doing their job … It just breaks your heart, and you think of the families and so many friends and co-workers who were impacted by what happened today.”

At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest said President Obama is disappointed and frustrated that Congress has not taken common-sense steps to reduce gun violence.

“There are clear majorities in both the Democratic and Republican parties — according to many polls — for these policies,” Earnest said. “There are even some polls that indicate that there are clear majorities of gun owners that support some of these common-sense steps. And yet we haven’t seen Congress take this action.”

Andy Parker, Alison Parker’s grief-stricken father, vowed to be a “crusader” against the National Rifle Association.

“Look, I’m for the Second Amendment, but there has to be a way to force politicians that are cowards and in the pockets of the NRA to come to grips and have sensible laws so that crazy people can’t get guns,” Andy Parker said on CNN Thursday. “It can’t be that hard.”

He continued: “I know that the NRA, their position is going to be — I can hear it now — they’re going to say, ‘Oh, gee, if they were carrying, this never would’ve happened.’ I got news for you. If Alison or Adam had been carrying an AK-47 strapped around their waist, it wouldn’t have made any difference.”

Parker added: “I’m not going to rest until I see something get done here.”