The newly installed mayor of Nashville on Sunday declared "enough is enough" and called for comprehensive gun reform hours after a naked gunman opened fire in a Waffle House, killing four people.
In a statement, Mayor David Briley mourned the loss of the victims — and praised the heroic actions of a customer who wrested the AR-15 assault-type rifle out of the gunman's hands.
"Enough is enough," the mayor said.
"Let's be honest. Some people see these weapons as having a purpose of terrorizing other people. It's happening too much."
Briley also pointed to "Nashville's newest hero James Shaw Jr."
"Thrown into crisis, he acted with courage," the mayor said of the man who wrested the weapon from the suspect before he ran away from the carnage.
"He told me he saw an opportunity and he took it," Briley said. "He saved lives. That is certain, and we are all thankful to him for his bravery."
"Tragedies like today shouldn't happen," the statement continued, demanding: "We need comprehensive gun reform to address mass shootings, domestic shootings, accidental shootings and homicides."
"If we can all just come together for this and for the greater good, we can take these weapons of war off the streets of our country . . . For a moment, let's be honest about what happened . . . innocent Nashvilleans were terrorized by a man with an AR-15.
"Let's be honest. Some people see these weapons as having a purpose of terrorizing other people. It's happening too much. Enough is enough," he said.
Briley, the former vice mayor, was sworn into office in March after the former mayor, Megan Barry — the city's first female chief executive — resigned amid a sex scandal involving her former head of security.
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