Buttigieg sees 'insanity' in reaction to gun violence

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday criticized those who blame America's gun violence on factors other than guns.

"The idea that us, being the only developed country where this happens routinely, especially in terms of the mass shootings, is somehow a result of the design of the doorways on our school buildings is the definition of insanity, if not the definition of denial," he said on ABC's "This Week."

Buttigieg was responding to those who blamed last month's horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead on American schools having too many entrances and exits. "Every building should have a single point of entry," former President Donald Trump said in a speech to the NRA. “Have one door into and out of the school," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) urged.

Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., also said local leaders are looking to Washington for leadership on gun violence, but not necessarily waiting for federal action.

"As every mayor is doing around the country," he told host George Stephanopoulos, "you take the steps that you can to reduce community violence, to invest in partnerships, to make sure that you're taking the steps that you can locally, but you're also looking at Washington to say will anything be different this time?"

He added: "Will we actually acknowledge the reasons why we are the only country, the only developed country, where this happens on a routine basis?"