Donald Trump appears to blame mass shootings on 'broken homes' and 'bad behaviour' at school
Donald Trump: 'No law can cure the effects of a broken home'
Former president Donald Trump has spoken at the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention being held in Texas in the wake of a mass school shooting, in the same state, which killed 19 children and two teachers.
In his speech, Mr Trump cited "broken homes" and "bad behaviour" in school - appearing to suggest these were reasons for mass shootings like the tragedy in Uvalde on Tuesday.
The USA's biggest gun lobby pressed ahead with Friday's event despite criticism.
Mr Trump also said: "If the United States has $40 billion dollars to send to Ukraine, we should be able to do whatever it takes to keep our children safe at home".
Investigators have so far shed no light on the Texas gunman's motive for the attack.
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The Republican read the names of the 21 people killed at Robb Elementary school, with a bell tolling out after each.
In a lengthy address to the convention, Mr Trump said: "Clearly we need to make it far easier to confine the violent and mentally deranged into mental institutions.
"Our school discipline systems, instead of making excuses and continuing turning a blind eye, need to confront bad behaviour head on and quickly."
He continued: "No law can cure the effects of a broken home. There is no substitute for a strong mum and a great dad".
Watch ITV News Correspondent Geraint Vincent's report from Uvalde
Of gunman Salvador Ramos, he said: "He will be eternally damned to burn in the fires of hell".
After criticising politicians on the left for, what he called, "highly divisive" rhetoric with regards to gun laws in America in the wake of the shooting, Mr Trump went on to call for teachers to be armed.
"The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," he said.
"Our schools should be the single hardest target in our country," he said.
The 75-year-old went on to repeat the false claim the 2019 presidential election was rigged.
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Police on Friday said the "wrong decision" was made not to storm the classroom sooner as the attack unfolded earlier in the week.
Nearly 20 officers were in a hallway outside the classroom for more than 45 minutes before US border patrol agents used a master key to open the locked door. Once inside they shot dead the 18-year-old gunman.
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said at a news conference that the commander had assumed the gunman was barricaded inside and that it was no longer an active shooter situation.