Sen. Warner Admits Universal Background Checks Would Not Have Prevented Va. Beach Massacre

‘We’ve got to recognize that this just doesn’t happen in other civilized nations’

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MARGARET BRENNAN: With us now is the senior senator from the state where this happened, Virginia’s Mark Warner. Senator, the Virginia Beach police chief said today that he didn’t believe any other kind of gun legislation would have prevented this. The weapons were purchased legally and he entered the building in a legal manner. But we do know former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords’ organization that rates gun safety and violence, says every 10 hours in the state of Virginia someone is killed with a gun. Is this something your constituents just have to adjust to?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Well, Margaret first of all, we’re all heartbroken about what happened in Virginia Beach. Twelve victims, eleven of them public officials, since they work for the city. And thank God for the police officers who rushed in and took down the shooter or chances are there could have been more deaths. And we’re still not sure what motivated this shooter. I’ve been in touch with city officials and the governor, and there may not have been anything with this specific case that could have prevented it, although obviously additional mental health assistance would be- would be critical. 

But we’ve got to recognize that this just doesn’t happen in other civilized nations at this level of violence. And while it’s too early to talk about what specific actions, I do think there ought to be some kind of lowest hanging fruit like universal background checks that might not have done anything in this particular case but might prevent some future incident, particularly in terms of identifying somebody that might have mental health issues in terms of their ability to obtain a firearm. I do think there are certain areas where we could and should come together in terms of action.

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