reports, Republican lawmakers
say gun control legislation
that's a nonstarter on capitol
hill. It's an all too familiar
story tearing apart communities
and devastating families.
Shootings 130 in this year alone
, including the rampage at a
Christian school in Nashville,
leaving six victims dead,
including 39 year Olds. But on
capitol hill, little has changed
. Not limit the two air 15. Why
not? If you're going to talk
about the air 15, you're talking
politics. Now, let's not get
into politics. All right. Let's
not get into emotion because
emotion feels good, but emotion
doesn't solve problems. The
active shooter in the school are
15 was one of the weapons
possessed by the killer during
Monday's massacre has been
frequently used in mass
shootings following the 2004
exploration of the assault
weapons ban, but president Biden
lacks of support from
Republicans who control the
house and can block legislation
in the senate. They argue such a
ban is ineffective and infringes
on constitutional rights, take
action to ban 15th in the
aftermath of all these terrible
shootings because I believe in
the second amendment and, we
shouldn't you know you shouldn't
penalize law abiding American
citizens senator from Tennessee
, also declining to embrace
further restrictions banning
those weapons that were used and
attacks like these certain that
politics will wave into
everything, but right now, I'm
not focused on the politics of
the situation and focused on the
families. Even Andy ogle, whose
district includes the covenant
school in Nashville, is a
longtime supporter of access to
high powered weapons. Why not
ban a R 15? Sir why not talk
about the real issues facing
this country? In regards to the
shooting, which would be mental
health, but congress did take
steps to address mental help
when it passed the most
ambitious gun laws in a
generation just last year. Now,
even GOP supporters of that law
are skeptical of any more hill
action. At the end of the day. I
don't know if there's much space
to do more, but I'll certainly
look and see. But with mass
shootings up sharply in the last
few years Democrats say that
it's time to force a vote. We
need to fight in congress, and
I'm prepared to conduct that
fight. Others are as well. It's
a fight Republicans are willing
to have opposed to reinstating
this ban. Well, I mean, a lot of
people use a rs and a case for
sporting purposes fired both of
those things. That's firearms
for sporting purposes so but
listen, let's stay focused on
the issue at hand, which isn't
some generic question about guns
. That's what happened to these
children in this school by this
shooter. That's number two
senate Republican John Thune
about this issue. Also given
there have been 130 mass
shootings, injustice year alone,
whether any action is needed
legislatively, he said, it's
quote premature and also the
speaker of the house. Kevin
Mccarthy for the last two days,
has not answered questions about
this issue. I just tried to ask
him about this again, he would
not respond to any questions
about whether action should be
taken here. But Mccarthy was
along with the rest of his house
Republican leadership team voted
against that bipartisan safety
law that senate Republican
leader Mitch Mcconnell supported
just last year. Phil. Maharaja
on capitol hill. Thanks so much
now I want to bring in
congressman Republican
congressman Ken buck of Colorado
and congressman you have been
very consistent in your
opposition to gun control
legislation. Boston very
consistent into what you believe
should be the focus in the wake
of tragedies like this primarily
on the issue of mental health
and trying to address those
issues, and I'm interested given
the fact that the shooter in
this case ah, I was seeing a
doctor due to mental health
issues, was still able to
purchase seven guns from five
shops locally and carry out this
crime. This murder. What do you
think should have been done in
this situation? What could
prevent something like this?
Well in Colorado. First of all,
when you talk about federal
action at in congress, you're
talking about a one size fits
all solution. We have a very
diverse country the needs for
areas of Los Angeles are much
different than the needs for
rural Colorado. So we have a we
have proposed and state by
state. Limitations on on gun
rights in Colorado, we have a
red flag law. And a mental
health professional can notify
law enforcement that somebody is
dangerous. A neighbor relative
can notify law enforcement that
somebody is dangerous and law
enforcement is mandated to move
that doesn't stop gun violence
and in Colorado, and it won't
the bottom line is we have
mental health issues, and we
have to deal with those who need
that help. The gun itself isn't
creating the crime, the person
behind the gun and those people
are identifiable. I've talked
to. I brought school
superintendents together and
said, what is the solution? And
they know who the dangerous
students are in their schools.
And yet there are impediments
for those schools superintendent
for those school principals to
be able to take action to
protect the students in those
schools, but I think that this
kind of gets my question because
I was I wasn't asking about the
guns specifically here. This was
an individual that had known
mental health issues was seeing
a doctor for those mental health
issues and yet was able to get
access to guns to use. And
you're saying red flag logs and
Colorado? You've opposed red
flag laws, generally,
particularly national scale in
the past wouldn't work, so those
things don't necessarily net out
. How? What's your answer here,
then? Well my answer is I don't
know what the law is in
Tennessee. If you're telling me
there's no red flag laws, I
don't oppose red flag laws that
give defendants in this case the
gun owner the right to appear in
court and defend themselves. The
problem. The gun, the red flag
long Colorado is there is no due
process. The law enforcement
officials are mandated to go
take the guns, which is
dangerous to law enforcement and
dangerous to the individual. Go
and take the guns from the
person and then the person has
the burden of proving their
innocence. That's a problem
properly, uh, defined red flag
law. I would be in favor of if
it gave the gun owner the right
to defend themselves and present
their arguments in court. You
know, the president has once
again reiterated his call for a
reinstatement of the assault
weapons ban. You know, back in
2020. You went viral. You posted
this video after a similar plea.
Take a watch. Message for Joe
Biden. Invaluable work. If you
want to take everyone's ar 15 in
America, you swing by my office
in Washington, D C and start
with this one. Come and take it.
Look, I come from a place where
all my friends have gone as many
of them use a R S. I guess my
question is, do you concern as a
federal officials, lawmakers,
somebody who legislates that
something like that maybe
diminishes the impact of what
this moment is and kind of the
conversations that's happening,
at least if you're trying to
reach a resolution on issues.
Well if Joe Biden is interested
in reaching a resolution on the
issue, let him deal with the
southern border. We have drugs
coming across the southern
border and this crisis this
mental health crisis that we
have in this country has a
direct relationship to our drug
laws being loosened and the lack
of funding at the state level
for mental health services. So
let Joe Biden deal with some of
the issues that are underlying
the very serious and I have to
tell you. My heart goes out
every time we have one of these
shootings to the victims and
their families of these
shootings, but it doesn't it
doesn't lessen the burden that
Joe Biden has in finding
solutions to these problems
other than just blaming the gun
all the time for the problem
that he, in part is causing by
his policies on the border. So
even if I stipulate everything
you said, related to the
president, what's the burden on
you? As a lawmaker? In the wake
of these? You noted, every time
one of these happens, your heart
goes out. You feel awful. The
fact that they happened so many
times that you have to say every
time that would seem to be a
pretty significant problem
nationally. So what's the burden
on you? As a federal officials
lawmaker to do something about
this? Regardless of what you
think it is, but to do something
right? No I absolutely
acknowledge that and my burden
is to make sure I follow the
constitution and the second
amendment protector or more than
two million R fifteens. As you
said, you have some friends with
a R fifteens there, not a danger
to anybody. The idea that we're
going to confiscate two million
weapons in this country is pure
folly. The idea that we're going
to ban a particular kind of
weapon as if some other weapon
won't be used. I can remember.
20 years ago, the band was on
handguns. We've gotta we've
gotta stop handguns from being
used and handguns kill far more
people than a rifle like an ar
15. If you go to Chicago and you
look at the murder rate in some
very poor areas of Chicago,
they're not using a R fifteens
are using handguns, so