Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger said during Sunday’s “State of the Union” that he is “open” to supporting a federal ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the Uvalde massacre.
CNN’s Dana Bash began by asking Kinzinger to explain why Americans “need” to own AR-15 style rifles since he had openly opposed an assault weapons ban in the past.
Kinzinger responded, “I have opposed a ban fairly recently. I think I’m open to a ban now. It’s gonna depend on what it looks like because there’s a lot of nuances on what constitutes certain things, but I’m getting to the point where I have to wonder, maybe somebody to own one, maybe you need an extra license, maybe you need extra training. And so the question is, is it a ban versus is it an additional certification?”
The Illinois representative took shots at his own party for not finding a way to “mitigate” young people purchasing these guns.
“The problem is for people who support the Second Amendment, like me, we have to be coming to the table with ways to mitigate 18-year-olds buying these guns and walking into schools,” he said. “My side’s not doing that. My side’s not coming forward with reasonable ways to defend an amendment that we think is very important,” he said. “So I’m looking at this going fine, if people are going to put forward solutions about certifying maybe who can buy an assault weapon, I’m certainly open to that.”
Kinzinger has come forth in support of raising the minimum age to buy an AR-15 to 21-years of age in response to the shooting in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket that killed 10 people. (RELATED: ‘You Don’t See That As A Problem?’: CNN’s Dana Bash And Rep. Dan Crenshaw Clash Over Gun Control)
“You have to be 21 to buy a pistol in this country. Can we all at least agree we should raise the age to 21 for ARs as well? Shouldn’t everyone have a background check? I think so. These are 90 percent issues, do it now and keep debating the rest,” he said in a May 14 tweet.
You have to be 21 to buy a pistol in this country. Can we all at least agree we should raise the age to 21 for ARs as well? Shouldn’t everyone have a background check? I think so. These are 90 percent issues, do it now and keep debating the rest.
— Adam Kinzinger🇺🇦🇺🇸✌️ (@AdamKinzinger) May 14, 2022
Gun legislation has been brought to the table after gunman Salvador Ramos killed 19 children and 2 adults inside Robbs Elementary School Tuesday. In two separate addresses to the nation this week, President Joe Biden called on Americans to “stand up to the gun lobby” and pass “common sense” gun reforms.
“As a nation, we have to ask: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” Biden asked Tuesday. “When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”