Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) admitted that he didn’t know whether the shooter who killed a cameraman and reporter for WDBJ was allowed to have a gun under current law while speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
McAuliffe was asked why firearms end up in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. He stated, “I’ve continually raised this issue. Twice, I have brought legislation before the General Assembly. Twice, I’ve asked that we have background checks. Twice now, they have rejected background checks in the commonwealth, as you know, this year, out of the General Assembly, I had to veto a piece of legislation that allowed individuals to buy machine guns in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I had to veto another piece of legislation that allowed folks to carry loaded shotguns in their cars. Now that’s a tragedy. We actually had an an incident, in the history in Virginia, where a state trooper came up on a scene, they were loading the car into the wrecker, and shotgun went off, and the state trooper was killed. So, I’ve had to veto — those pieces of legislation actually passed our General Assembly. So, I’m trying to bring common sense ideas. As I say, I’m a gun owner, I’m a hunter. I go through background checks. It takes five minutes. Hand your license over, and run the data. There are individuals in this country who should not be allowed to own a firearm. And it’s just to me common sense, and it’s just tragic that this kind of legislation cannot be passed and signed into law.”
Later a reporter asked, “do we know that he [the shooter] is not a permit-holder? Do we know that he has a criminal background, that he would not be allowed to carry a gun?”
McAuliffe answered, “I don’t know anything. I don’t. I don’t. At this stage, I don’t.”
(h/t Mediaite)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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