Bill Clinton: “Well, first of all, let me tell you where I'm coming from on this. For 12 years, before I became President, I was the…”

“Well, first of all, let me tell you where I'm coming from on this. For 12 years, before I became President, I was the Governor of Arkansas, a State where more than half the people have a hunting or a fishing license or both. I would never knowingly do anything to undermine the ability of people to hunt, to engage in recreational shooting, to do anything else that is legal with appropriate firearms. I strongly supported the Brady bill for a clear reason: We knew it would work to keep a significant number of people from getting guns who either had past criminal records or had mental health histories that made them unfit to be gun owners. And it has, in fact, done that. I supported the assault weapons ban for a simple reason: because the death rate from gunshot wounds in a lot of our cities where the crime rate is high has gone up. I went to emergency rooms where hospital personnel pleaded with me to do something about this problem, because the average gunshot wound victim they were seeing had more bullets in them than just a few years ago because of the widespread use of these assault weapons by gang members. I saw a lot of children who were innocently caught in crossfires in this kind of thing. All the law enforcement agencies in the country asked for help on the assault weapons ban. So I supported it. But the bill that I passed also contained a list of 650 sporting weapons that could not be in any way infringed by Federal action, that were protected. There were 19 as- sault weapons and their copycats that were prohibited. I still believe it was the right thing to do. I strongly believe it was the right thing to do. Now, we can differ about that, but I just want to make two points in closing. As President, I have to make laws that fit not nly my folks back home in Arkansas and the people in Montana but the whole of this country. And the great thing about this country is its diversity, its differences, and trying to harmonize those is our great challenge. I did this because I thought it would give our law enforcement officers a better chance to stay alive and to keep other people alive. That's why I did it. I did it because it has clear protections for hunting and sporting weapons. And I think, frankly, that the NRA has done the country a disservice by trying to raise members and raise money by making extremist claims for this. I mean, they put out a letter in which they called Federal officials ``jackbooted thugs,'' as you know, but the other part of the letter accused me of encouraging Federal officials to commit murder. And I just think that's wrong. You know, one of the problems we've got in this country is, everybody wants simple answers to complicated questions, and so we all start screaming at each other before we listen and talk. That's one reason I'm here tonight. So I did it; I think it's the right thing to do. But I do not plan to do anything which would undermine the ability of people in Montana or any other State in this country to lawfully use their weapons. Mr. Koernig. We promise not to scream tonight. Our first question.”