Sheriff Grady Judd says more gun control won't stop mass shootings

WINTER HAVEN (FOX 13) - A day after a shooter orchestrated a massacre on an Oregon community college Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says gun control will not prevent incidents like it.

"There's 300 million guns in this country. The common denominator is mental health, not guns," said Judd.

Judd says the focus should be squarely on mental health and preventing people with mental illness from getting guns.

Judd's comments come as President Obama calls for further gun control after the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College.

"It cannot be this easy for someone who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun," said President Obama.

Although Judd says guns aren't the problem, the statistics are staggering.  According to the Washington Post, the United States has seen 294 mass shootings this year. More than one a day.  That number is based on the classification of mass shooting as incidents in which four or more people at a time are killed or injured by gunfire.

Judd says the risk of mass shootings can be reduced by following up with people that come into contact with law enforcement and exhibit mental health concerns.

"If we could work together, if we could identify those that are significantly mentally ill, the health people work with law enforcement and work with the system so that we can make sure those people get help we can reduce the probability," Judd said.

Judd does support doing more to limit access to guns for people with documented mental health issues.