About the organization and its effort, David Mitchell is the president and washington journal continues. Host this is Stephen Gutkowski of the Washington Free beacon joining us. Hes a staff writer talking about the various efforts on Gun Legislation being discussed. Good morning to you. Guest good morning to you. Thanks for having me on. Host of the various pieces weve heard since the shootings in both dayton and el paso, what has the most success as of today . Guest as far as legislation at the federal level goes, i think the most likely to pass or come up for a vote even is red flag legislation. Being worked on by Lindsey Graham and richard blumenthal. They announced theyd had a deal although er on texts, they have not released the text yet. So were not sure on the details of that beyond whats been. So basics reported. But essentially that bill would be federal grants for states that adopt red flag laws that meet certain guidelines that will, i guess well see once of the text of the bill is out. Host walk us through the fundamental idea of red flag laws. How do they work . Guest red flag law or a gun violence restraining order, theyre also called, essentially it allows, depending on the state, it allows somebody who is either a Family Member or in some cases police or, you know, even your people you work with, to petition a court for a restraining order which temporarily which allows Law Enforcement to temporarily seize someones firearms from them if they present evidence that theyre a danger to themselves or others. Now, theres a lot of controversy around these laws. Because some people, you know, one side says theres not enough due process protections, which is obviously a fundamental important thing when youre talking about removing someones firearms. Given that affects their Second Amendment rights. And the other side believes that these are important measures to prevent Mass Shootings. But also, in more cases, suicides. Host who it comes to the laws themselves, the proposals, even though republicans are talking about pushing that forward, whats the idea of many of the republicans on capitol hill on its face, do you have a sense of that . Guest i think this one has more support than things like a universal background check law or assault weapons ban or magazine bans. Because youve seen republicans come out already publicly support this. Rubio has supported the general idea and he has his own proposal. Graham obviously is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and hes been working on this for month news to and his big push in the aftermath of the latest two shootings is red flag law. So i think youve also seen the president express support, as well as the majority leader, Mitch Mcconnell. So i think that theres a lot more support in the Republican Party for Something Like a red flag law. Theres also plenty of skepticism and the idea that the details the devils in the details in these things. Host whats the main point of concern in skepticism . Guest the main point of concern for red flag laws that there wont be strenuous enough due process protections. Someones accused of being a threat to themselves and others and you can petition a judge but if the person is not able to defend themselves against the accusations or have a hearing in a reasonable amount of period of time after the guns are taken, you know, obviously that presents constitutional issues and thats where the concerns come in. Host our guest with us to talk about these various proposals that are making their way or at least being discussed on capitol hill. If youre a gun owner and you want to ask questions, 2027488000. All others, 2027488001. You can also tweet us your thoughts cspanwj. Where does the president stand on these various things being discussed . Guest the president is the president , right . So hes made a number of different states about being open to universal background check proposals, and as well as red flag law proposals. And i believe hes made statements saying he doesnt support an assault weapons ban, which i think most republicans dont. Many democrats certainly do. But as far as concrete proposals, we dont necessarily have Something Like that yet. From the president or from congress beyond what weve heard out of Lindsey Graham and rich blumenthal on their red flag deal. Host when it comes to the topic checks, whats been the main concern . Because there are background checks already that exist. Whats the difference in the term universal . Guest the way federal law works currently, if youre, quote in the business of selling firearms, if you have a gun che been the main store or you make a substantial profit off of selling guns, a living, g it for a living, you have to become licensed by the federal government and so those people who are licensed, theyre what he is whats regulated. Those individuals. Thats how the Current System works. Any time they do a sale, theres a background check. So if you go to gaun store, theres a background check. If you buy a gun from them at a gun show, if you buy from a licensed dealer, someone at a gun store, you have to do a background check. If you buy onlined from a licensed dealer, theres a check. Nd federal law does not regulate private sales. Private individuals, i should say. So the used market, if someone sells a private a private individual sells gun to another private individual in the secondary market, within their own state, then theres no federal regulation on that, a background check is not required. Universal background checks require background require bac on those sales as well. Basically on almost any transfer of the gun between two people would have to have a broupped check. Except usually theres exceptions for Family Members. Several states have adopted this these kinds of laws. I think theres eight or so right now, eight to 12, mainly your bluer states have universal background check laws. So essentially the proposal is to make that federal law. So all gun transfers in the United States would have to go through the background check system. Host you listed all those venues someone can buy a gun. We have people who call into this program and say there are ways around that from every venue listed. Whats the reality to that . Can someone buy a gun without a background check . Guest certainly you can buy a gun legally without a background check if youre in a state where they dont have a universal background check law. And youre doing a private sale. And youre not a prohibited person. Somebody who is a convicted felon, who has been adjudicated mentally ill. Its never legal for those people to buy guns. They may be able to do it illegally, certainly they can break the law. But as far as the law concerned, its illegal to ever sell a gun or let someone hold a gun if theyre a prohibited person and its illegal for them to do it. So as far as the effectiveness of background checks, especially in regards to universal or especially in regards to the recent shootings, the last three attacks, all three of those shootings went through the Legal Process and had a background check and passed it. So, as far as this as a response to these recent shootings, this kind of proposal, it wouldnt necessarily have stopped these particular shootings. Advocates say it would generally reduce crime. Thats the claim at least. Host weve had discussions about Gun Legislation after sandy hook. Weve had it after a member of congress was shot. We had it after several members were shot. Is there Something Different this time about the discussion going none capitol hill . Guest you know, the hard to say as far as whats what politicians think. I dont know. I think the proof will be in whats to come legislatively. You know, there is obviously sort of cycle these things. You see support of gun control in the media after a horrible attack like weve seen recently. Then as we get further away from those events, support for them in public polling drops. Its likely to see Something Like that happen again. Host lets take your first caller. This is from jim in illinois. A gun owner. Youre on with Steve Gutkowski of the Washington Free beacon. Hello. Caller good morning, gentlemen. How are you guys . Host fine, thanks. Go ahead. Caller im a gun owner and i live in the country and i have a gun range and i just would like to say, its fun to shoot water jugs and steel targets. But also on another note, you know, as much as wed like these Mass Shootings to go away, i doubt very much if they ever will. So in saying that, that means every time we have one, year after year, and the Congress Ends up making more laws and restricting it year after year, you chip and you chip and you chip away, eventually you have nothing left but dust. So when do we quit chipping . We have 22,000 gun laws on the books right now that needs to be enforced. Host thanks, caller. Guest yeah, i mean, i think theres a legitimate point in there about enforcing current laws. Certainly youve seen many of these mass shooters, including the one in dayton, from details weve heard already, where its likely that they could have been made into a prohibited person. They could have been prosecute forward crime that would have made them prohibited from owning guns or they could have been involuntarily committed as we saw with swub like the parkland someone like the parkland shooters. There are a lot of things under current law, regardless of what you think about the future proposals, that could prevent a lot of these shootings. And it takes somebody doing something, saying something, and in some cases it takes Law Enforcement following through on those tips and that evidence thats available to them. So i do you this that think there is more that can be done with current law to prevent these sort of horrible attacks. Host from virginia, carol. Good morning. Caller good morning. Y response to this potential red flag law is that we are laypeople to diagnose, to pick up the science of suicide. Some people will pick up the sign signs of suicide. Some people will pick up the signs but many people do not dnt, they cannot, they do not have the knowledge. Now, do we not think that if the Kennedy Family missed that diagnosis of someone they loved, that we can expect everyone else to prevent suicides in their family . And families who go through this, it is a very painful, guilty moment. O i see this as not doing much my own opinion is we need to get the powerful guns, the one with the big 100magazine shots, this is what needs to be done. And i think what were trying to do with the red flag is to make us feel good, to make us feel when in e done nothing reality we will have done very little. I am not a gun owner. I do have military people in my family. I do have hunters in the family or have had in the past, its something i personally dont check with peoples preferences. Host thanks, caller. Guest obviously the signs of suicide can be difficult to defect for some people. Red flag laws are not a guarantee youll be able to prevent all suicides, of course. I think theres a lot of legitimate concerns as well of people sort of making false accusations in order to take someones guns away from them without the proper protections for that. Thats something that has been very controversial with these proposals so far. Host from ohio, this is will, a gun owner. Hi. Caller good morning, gentlemen. Im an elderly gentlemen and a longtime hunter and i would like to say, one thing that bothers me, it seems like many of these gun laws are based on untruths. One of the biggest ones is when i hear guns are so readily available today compared to what they used to be. That is not simply true. When i was a younger person, 16, 17 years old, you could walk into your local five and dime and buy an m 147b grand rifle, which was m 17b had grand rifle, which was used in world war ii, much more powerful than the we haves they have now. You put weapons they have now. You put dound 100, you buy the gun, no background check, no anything. So when people say guns are so readily available, thats not true. They were much more. Our local high school actually had a shooting range in the basement. And kids would bring their guns to school and shoot after class. I mean, it has something to do with society, not with the guns. And thats what id like to say. Thank you very much. Guest yeah, i think theres a lot of truth to that. Certainly our First Federal firearms law wasnt enacted in 1934. Weve seen a number, at least three or four more since then, absolutely guns are more regulated now than they were in the history. Host this idea of the ar15 or assault weapons this comes back into the conversation. Is it the same type of conversation weve heard about this weapon in previous gun shootings . Has something changed about this type of weapon . What you have experienced . Guest no. This is not a new debate that were having. Certainly as the caller just one of the points that gets brought up a lot is the ar 15 is a. 223 round which is an sbeer immediateat cart raj which is between your immediate yam cartridge and fullsized cartridge. But you have a lot of people that have misconceptions about how these firearms work and believes beliefs that theyre somehow more powerful than your hunting rifles or Something Like that. Which is not necessarily true. Or really not true at all. But as far as the debate goes, you have people who want them banned and on the other side its the most popular rifle in america and theres millions of people who own them and dont want them banned. Host Stephen Gutkowski, weve heard the president talk about the influence of the n. R. Namplet this discussion n. R. A. In this discussion. President trump i have a great relationship with the n. R. A. I have a lot of respect for the people at the n. R. A. And i have already spoken to them on numerous occasions. Numerous occasions. And frankly, we need intelligent background checks. Ok . This isnt a question of n. R. A. , republican or democrat. I will tell you, i spoke to Mitch Mcconnell yesterday, hes totally onboard. He said, ive been waiting for your call. Hes totally onboard. I spoke to senators that in some cases friends of mine, but pretty hardline senators, hardline and when i say that, i say that in a positive way. Hardline on the Second Amendment. And they understand, we dont want insane people, mentally ill people, bad people, dangerous people, we dont want guns in the hands of the wrong people. I think that the republicans are going to be great and lead the charge, along with the democrats. I spoke yesterday to nancy pelosi, we had a great talk. I spoke to Chuck Schumer, we had a great talk. And Chuck Schumer in particular loves my china policy, as you probably know. I said, i cant believe, it you actually like something that im doing. He said, not like, love. So Chuck Schumer is great on the china situation. Which we are winning and winning big and china wants to goed is wants to do something but im not ready to do something yet. 25 years of abuse, im not letting that go fast. Well see how that works out. But on the background check, on background checks, we have tremendous support for really commonsense, sensible, important background checks. Host Stephen Gutkowski, going back to the first part of the statement, the n. R. A. , he seemed open as far as conversations hes had with them about their concerns. What are the n. R. A. s concerns about the president actually doing something . Guest hes had several conversations with the c. E. O. Of the National Rifle association and then also i had a story last week about the white house reaching out to the head of the Second Amendment foundation and the Citizens Committee for the right to keep and bear arms. Certainly the white house is concerned about what gun rights supporters think about moving forward here. What they are willing to support and what theyre not. The n. R. A. Itself has come out and said they would not support a universal background check law at the federal level. They have offered support for some red flag proposals nat in the past. They have obviously the concerns i laid out earlier about those bills. But i think as far as the universal background check law goes, which the president was talking about there, the politics of that would be i think a stretch to get that passed. You need 14 republican votes, you have two left from the last time in 2012 when they had a bill. And so you need to get 12 more. I think it would take a very strong effort, continuous effort from the president himself, to push that bill in order to give enough to convince enough republicans to go its not even clear would you get all of the democrats in the senate to vote for it. People like doug jones in alabama may oppose Something Like that. I think it would hed have to spend a lot of Political Capital to get Something Like that passed and its unclear what the benefits for him would be politically speaking at least. So its hard to look at the math for things like universal background checks and assault weapons bans and see them getting to 60 votes just practically. Host lets hear from mike in south carolina. Caller hi, good morning. Having to do with universal background checks, everyone is in agreement, all the voters, republicans and democrats, that it should be done. And it should be something that people will have to wait until that background check has been completed to own a weapon. What is the urgency . Does someone