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Democratic Rep. Admits On CNN: ‘We Don’t Know’ If Gun Buybacks Will Save Lives

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Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Democratic Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez admitted Monday that he didn’t know whether gun buybacks would save lives.

Gonzalez discussed potential gun control measures with Poppy Harlow during a segment of “CNN Newsroom.” (RELATED: Columbine Survivor Evan Todd Was Used To Push Beto’s Gun Grab. There’s Just One Problem)

“You have been supportive of universal background checks,” Harlow noted, going on to ask how Gonzalez felt about his former fellow Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s plan to implement a mandatory buyback program for AR-15s and AK-47s. “Is that a bridge too far for you or do you support a mandatory buyback?” she asked.

“I have great respect for Beto and his opinions. I don’t know if we need to go that far to cure the issue but certainly doing intense background checks, cutting loopholes,” Gonzalez replied. “I recently bought a shot gun at a gun show, the lady just looked at my driver’s license and handed me the gun. Certainly something’s wrong with that.”

Gonzalez also suggested limits to magazine capacity but stopped short of agreeing with a buyback. “If you think back in the 70s and 80s, many of these guns were as available as they are now but we be weren’t having the mass shootings we are today,” he explained. “We need to ask what has socially brought us to this point in history and what can we do differently to change society. That’s certainly a question that needs to be continued to ask. I don’t know that taking everyone’s guns is going to cure the national massacres we had in recent history.”

“But would it save lives?” Harlow challenged.

“I’m not sure. We don’t know,” Gonzalez admitted. “It may be a social issue that need to be addressed, maybe an intense social study of what’s happened in America in the last two decades where we’re having mass shootings almost every single month. Clearly I think buying guns back should be the last resort. We need to start with a path of least resistance and see what changes can be made that would cure the problem that we’re having in this country.”