During an October 8 appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) stressed that requiring a background check for every gun sale—retail and private—is the “North Star” for Democrats regarding gun control.
In other words, the Democrats’ ultimate goal is to pass a law that will require every gun purchaser to pass the same background the Las Vegas attacker passed to acquire his firearms.
The segment began with host Jake Tapper asking Murphy if he was willing to “accept a clean bump stocks bill” in the wake of the Vegas attack or whether he “would insist on a broader gun control package.”
He responded by saying he is willing to accept a ban of bump stocks for now but stressed that such a ban “is a fairly small change” and lawmakers must “go far beyond” it to secure other gun controls as well. He spoke specifically of securing universal background checks. Such checks would mean that gun purchasers buying privately would have to pass the same background check that was passed at retail by the Vegas attacker, the Alexandria attacker, the Orlando Pulse attacker, the Lafayette movie attacker, the Aurora movie theater attacker, both Fort Hood attackers, and the attacker who shot and wounded Gabby Giffords.
When Tapper pointed out that the Vegas attacker had, in fact, passed background checks for firearms, Murphy argued that it is not fair to limit the gun control discussion to one attack. He then stressed that lawmakers need to work to get “‘assault weapons’ off the street” and suggested the availability of such firearms gives people “a bizarre, perverted confidence” that they can pull off heinous crimes.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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