Nebraska GOP Gov. Pete Ricketts on Sunday urged “more preventative” measures, especially in mental health for children, be taken in the wake of a racially fueled mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Ricketts cited his own state’s measures that avoided being “restrictive.”
“When we're talking about events like this, one of the things we ought to be doing, what we've kind of done in Nebraska, is work to be able to open up good lines of communication between educators, law enforcement, behavioral health specialists to be more preventive,” he said.
“I think the focus should be on preventive rather than restrict legal buying from people,” he asserted. “It really needs to be focused on what is the issue here with each individual and trying to find how we can be more proactive in spotting those folks and getting them the help they need.”
Ricketts also weighed in on the recent win of Jim Pillen in a crowded Republican primary for governor over a candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
“In a contested primary we should suspect the Republicans will be different sides of this,” he said. “I support many of President Trump's policies. In this case we were on opposite sides of it. At the end of the day I think voters in individual states, certainly true here in Nebraska, make their own decision.”
Ricketts said last summer he had asked Trump to stay out of the primary in Nebraska, and called it “a great example of things you can control and can’t control.”
“At the time he didn't refuse,” he said. “He said he would get back to me later…I guess that's a great example of things you can control and can't control.”
He also said he’s got no interest in trying to control Trump’s picks for candidates, including in the contentious Georgia gubernatorial race in which GOP Gov. Brian Kemp is seeking reelection.
“As co-chair of the Republican Governors Association, we've been very clear we support our incumbents,” he said.
Related Stories: