Mike Thompson: “Why is it that more than 80 percent of NRA members and over 80 percent of gun owners support background checks? Well, I…”

“Why is it that more than 80 percent of NRA members and over 80 percent of gun owners support background checks? Well, I will tell you why. It is because they are responsible gun owners; and responsible gun owners understand that there is nothing wrong with making sure that a prospective gun buyer isn't a terrorist, a criminal, a domestic abuser, or dangerously mentally ill. The Supreme Court made that perfectly clear in District of Columbia v. Heller. The Court ruled that, while Americans have the right to keep and bear arms, there are no constitutional problems with laws prohibiting felons and the dangerously mentally ill from carrying guns. As a responsible gun owner myself, I will never give up my guns, and I will never ask law-abiding individuals without a history of dangerous mental illness to give up theirs. And, like other responsible gun owners, I understand that if gun violence continues unabated, then eventually we will see laws that place substantial and overly burdensome restrictions on our right to own guns. To reduce gun violence, we don't need to stop law-abiding citizens who use guns for hunting, sport shooting, and personal protection from obtaining those firearms. We need to stop terrorists, criminals, domestic abusers, and those with a history of dangerous mental illness from getting guns. Our first line of defense when it comes to making sure that guns don't fall into dangerous hands is to conduct a background check.…”