Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina endorsed enforcing the gun laws already on the books instead of passing more restrictive laws.
“One of the things we should be doing and we’re clearly not doing is prosecuting those people who shouldn’t have guns,” Fiorina said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday. “I mean, we have lists and lists of people who shouldn’t own guns who have them, and they’re not prosecuted. Less than 1 percent of them are ever prosecuted.”
“We have loads of guns that are illegally owned in this country,” Fiorina explained. “Why don’t we prosecute them? I think people would be willing to do more if some basic common-sense steps were taken. We don’t enforce the laws in this country. That’s why, that’s why some of the cities and states with the most stringent gun control laws also have mass shootings.”
“Remember South Carolina? The FBI admits that the guy should have never been sold a gun. South Carolina has some of the most stringent gun control laws in the country, and yet a mass shooting occurred. So I actually think it’s ideology, not common sense, that causes the left wing every time in a knee-jerk reaction here to say the answer is more laws when we’re not enforcing the laws we have. Let’s start by enforcing the laws we have,” Fiorina insisted.
Host Mika Brzezinski responded, “Well, wouldn’t it be common sense to have people who are on terror watch lists not be allowed to, I mean, there are common-sense things we can do, are there not?”
“Yes, but that’s kind of a red herring honestly,” Fiorina said. “If somebody is a suspected terrorist on a watch list, they can be indicted at any time, and once you’re indicted, you cannot own firearm. So, let’s enforce the laws we have. Let’s start with that. I honestly think this is part of why people are losing faith in their government, losing faith in there political –”
Host Joe Scarborough jumped in and asked, “If you’re on a terror watch list, you can’t get on a plane, but you can buy a .223?”
“Well, you know, my best friend’s husband was on the watch list for years. It was a complete mistake. He also happened to be a gun owner,” Fiorina said. “If I had utter faith in the competence of government, I might agree with that, but do you? I don’t. The government screws up all the time. They screw up who they put on watch lists. They screw up, my goodness, there are litanies of things that the government makes mistakes over. But if someone is a terror suspect, they can be indicted.”