“The problem is not owning an AR-15, it’s the person that owns it.»
Republican Sen. James Lankford (Okla.) said Sunday he doesn’t think it should be more difficult to buy an AR-15, which was used to kill 17 students in a Florida high school shooting last week, though he did say he supports improving the background checks required to buy weapons.
“I actually don’t think it should be. I think that what should be is difficult for any person with any kind of criminal background history, domestic violence, mental instability, all those things, regardless. I don’t care whether they’re buying a.22 pistol or an AR-15,» Lankford said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”
“The problem is not owning an AR-15, it’s the person that owns it,” the senator continued.
Last Wednesday, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire in an attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in south Florida. The shooting left 16 injured and 17 dead. According to reports, Cruz used an AR-15 that he was able to purchase legally.
Lankford said during the interview Sunday that he did not think the type of weapon being purchased was relevant — only that background checks must be more difficult for those buying a weapon.
“That’s why I’m on the ‘Fix NICS’ bill, because I also agree,” Lankford said when asked about the strength of the currently existing background check system.
“That is not complete. We are not getting the information from some rural departments, we’re not getting it from some federal entities, we’re not getting the information into that background system. So, that absolutely needs to be fixed.”
The ‘Fix NICS’ bill Lankford mentioned is legislation that would incentivize individual state compliance with an updated background check system. It also penalizes states that fail to report relevant records and directs more federal dollars to fund accurate reporting of domestic violence records.
Some Democrats have protested the legislation because it was packaged with the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would allow those with concealed-carry licenses in their state to carry a concealed weapon anywhere in the country, overruling other states’ gun laws.
The concealed carry bill passed the House in December, but the combined bill is not expected to pass in the Senate.
