Ron Johnson: Gun Control Debates In Wake Of Orlando Are ‘Nonsense’

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., announces that he has filed a lawsuit to block the federal government from helping to pay for health care coverage for members of Congress and their staffs, during a news conference on Capit... Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., announces that he has filed a lawsuit to block the federal government from helping to pay for health care coverage for members of Congress and their staffs, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. Johnson says that members of Congress and their staffs are getting special treatment under the health care law. The lawsuit would would force Congress and its staffers to purchase their insurance from the federal health care exchanges without exemptions carved out by the Office of Personnel Management. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Thursday dismissed the “nonsense” calls from Democratic lawmakers to enact gun control legislation following the deadly mass shooting in Orlando, Florida.

“We have to quit distracting the American public with these nonsense debates — and that’s what these are — these nonsense debates about gun control,” Johnson said on WISN’s “The Vicki McKenna Show.”

Johnson, who is engaged in a tough re-election fight with former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), said that gun control measures “will have no effect on these tragedies.”

“And that’s of course, we’re debating this in the United States Senate here today as we speak, laws that won’t actually prevent these things,” he said.

Instead, Johnson argued that lawmakers should address “Islamic terrorism.”

“We have to keep our focus on what the root cause of the problem is, and it’s Islamic terrorism. It’s not gun control. It’s Islamic terrorism,” he said.

In the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in United States history, Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill have renewed efforts to enact gun control legislation. Following a nearly 15-hour filibuster during which Democrats called attention to gun control measures, Senate Republicans agreed to hold votes on several amendments next week.

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