WASHINGTON – Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Sunday rejected President Trump’s suggestion that armed guards would have changed the outcome of the deadly attack on a synagogue that left 11 worshipers dead.

“I don’t think that the answer to this problem is solved by having our synagogues, mosques and churches filled with armed guards or our schools filled with armed guards,” Peduto told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think we’re dealing with an irrational person who acted irrationally. And trying to create laws around that is not the way that we should govern.”

Instead, he said gun control laws should be toughened.

“I think the approach we need to be looking at is how we take the guns – which is the common denominator in every mass shooting in America – out of the hands of those that are looking to express hatred through murder,” Peduto said during news conference updating Saturday’s shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

Trump, in his first comments about the attack on Saturday, said the house of worship should have had armed guards. “If they had protection inside, the results would have been far better. If they had some kind of protection within the temple it could have been a much better situation. They didn’t,” the president said as he left the White House for a campaign rally in Illinois.

The president made a similar suggestion after February’s mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 students and staff members dead.

The mayor also said the families of the 11 victims should decide whether they want a visit from Trump.

“That’s really up to the families themselves,” Peduto told NBC. “You know, we’re going to be working together as we have. We’ve had good cooperation from the state and the governor. And, you know, this is a conservative synagogue, so the funerals will be very quickly. As soon as tomorrow. So that’s really up to the families and whether they would want the president to be here.”

Arriving in Murphysboro, Ill., on Saturday, Trump told reporters he planned to travel to Pittsburgh, but the White House has not released specific details.

The president is expected to travel for the bulk of next week, holding rallies to bolster the Republican vote in November’s midterm elections.

Peduto, a Democrat, said he had a “cordial” conversation with Trump on Saturday after alleged gunman Robert Bowers gunned down people who were attending a baby-naming ceremony.

“We basically talked about the horrific tragedy,” the mayor said. “I was able to share with him the details of just how bad it had been. And he basically said that any resources that would be necessary would be given. And right now there are federal officials from the FBI coming from all parts of the country to help Pittsburgh.”

Peduto said his city is grieving the deaths of the 11 people at the synagogue.

“In Pittsburgh our hearts are broken,” he told NBC. “Right now we’re trying to grapple with this horrendous crime, something that is one of the darkest days in our city’s history. Our city’s a small city. So all communities are connected together. So we understand that an attack against our Jewish community is an attack against our entire city.”