White Sox’s Liam Hendricks Claims Getting Gun Is Easier than Getting Driver’s License

Chicago White Sox’s Liam Hendricks criticized United States gun policy on July 4, claiming it is easier to get a firearm than it is a to get driver’s license.

Hendricks told NBC White Sox, “I had to take a driving test when I [came] over [to America]. I won’t have to take a test if I want to get a gun. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea is an idiot.”

Hendricks, who is from Australia, said of America, “There is a lot of things that are good over here but, if you look at the negatives … I can walk into a store as a non-American and buy a handgun, in certain states, and that baffles me.”

The United States has had background checks on retail gun sales since 1998. Those checks include a requirement that the would-be buyer complete an ATF Form 4473, which is a background check form asking criminal and mental history questions. Once the form is filled out a phone call is placed to the FBI to verify there is no criminal history in the would-be buyer’s record, and the buyer is only allowed to take possession of the gun if he or she passes the FBI check.

Some states allow concealed carry permit holders to bypass the background check system, but they do this because the concealed carry permit holders go through the background check system to get their permit (and to renew their permit). So the background checks have already occurred in those cases.

Hendricks praised Australia’s gun control, noting that “protection isn’t a good enough reason to get a gun” in Australia.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.