basket with 5.9 seconds left. the good news, wade wrote oliver's name on his shoes and dedicated the rest of the season to him. thanks for joining us. here's shep. >> shepard: it's noon on the west coast. 3:00 at the white house. the president is meeting with the republican and democratic lawmakers to talk school safety and gun laws. some senate democrats are trying to put pressure on the president for one specific change. the chairman of dick's sporting goods chain calling for new laws. and taking action by no longer selling certain guns across his platforms. he says thoughts and prayers are not enough. will other retailers follow suit? president trump publicly blasting his own attorney general, jeff sessions yet again. this time calling a new investigation disgraceful. yesterday the white house had a completely different perspective. that and the attorney general's

new response ahead. inside syria. a nation where a dictator kills children with chemical bombs. a fresh sign of real alarm. satellite images said to show a new iranian base that could threaten israel. let's get to it. good wednesday afternoon from the news deck. the president set to meet with members of congress from both parties right now to talk about what the white house calls a school and community safety. we'll bring you that as soon as it starts live on fox news channel. lawmakers say they want specifics. specifics about what kind of gun safety measures the president would support. the white house says right now he's backing two bipartisan bills. one to improve the background checks system and another to give states more money for school safety. the senate minority leader, chuck schumer, says that is not enough. he's calling for universal

background checks. including at gun shows and online. democrats say the president can't help but make it happen. john roberts is on it live on the north lawn. hi, john. >> good afternoon. the final details are still being hammered out. tomorrow the white house will present a series of policy proposals on gun safety and taking efforts to curb school shootings. part of which will go through congress, part of which can be done through administrative or executive action. fox news has learned some of the details the president will reiterate his support for the cornyn-murphy bill. he will also propose to raise the minimum age for buying a gun. this is something that he did last week was but was silent on for a few days. he will propose raising that age from 18 to 21. the meeting starting. let's go inside the cabinet room

and listen. >> this is a different period than we've experienced. we have to act. we can't wait and play games and nothing gets done. i really believe that the people -- this is bipartisan. bipartisan meeting. we're going to discuss safe schools. we can really get there, but we have to do it. we don't want to wait two weeks, three weeks and four weeks and people forget and we go back on and we have another problem. we want to stop the problems from happening. as we continue to mourn the loss of so many precious young lives in parkland, florida, we're determined to turn our grief into action. i really believe that. i think the people at this table want it. i see some folks that don't say nice things about me and that's okay. if you turn that into this energy, i'll love you. i don't care. we're going to be able to do it.

sadly, these horrible mass shootings are nothing new. i asked for a list. you look at columbine, colorado. bill clinton was president. virginia tech, george bush. fort hood, sandy hook, san bernardino, pulse night club and so many more. it's ridiculous. so today we're here in a bipartisan fashion to show leadership in an effort to end this senseless violence. it can be ended and it will be ended. first, we must harden our schools against attack. this includes allowing people with a certified training, very talented people to carry firearms. some people are going to disagree with that. i understand that. i fully understand that. if you do, i want you to speak up today. we'll listen. 98% of all mass shootings in the

united states since 1950 have taken place in gun-free zones. where guns were not inside the school or as an example, you take pulse nightclub. if you had one person in that room that could carry a gun and knew how to use it, it wouldn't have happened or not to the extent it was where he was just shooting and shooting and shooting and they were defenseless. remember that 98% of all mass public shootings in the united states since 1950 have taken place in gun-free zones. it's terrible. you have to have defense, too. you can't just be sitting ducks. that's what we've allowed people in these buildings and schools to be. second, we have to confront mental health. there's never been a case that i've ever seen, i'm sure everybody would feel the same, where mental health was so obviously -- 39 different red flags. everybody was seeing them.

the local police, the state police, the fbi. everybody was seeing this guy was sick and nothing happened. third, we have to ensure when students, educators, family, neighbors, when they warn authorities, that the authorities act quickly and decisively unlike what took place in florida, which was horrible. fourth, we have to pursue common sense measures that protect the rights of law-abiding americans while keeping guns and we have to keep the guns out of the hands of those that pose the threat. this really includes background checks. i know senator, you're working on things. joe, i know you're working. i mean, i'm looking at a number of the folks around the table, you're working on different bills. we have to get them done. we have to get them done. they have to be strong. the back ground checks, look, i'm the biggest fan of the

second amendment. many of you are. i'm a big fan of the nra. but i had lunch with them, with wayne and chris and david on sunday and said, it's time. we're going to stop this nonsense. it's time. so we've made suggestions to many of you, and i think you'll put a lot of them in place. you'll have your own ideas. certain ideas sound good, but they're not good. you can hard den a site to a level that nobody can get in. the problem is if the shooter is inside, if he gets in the door and closes the door, we can't get people in. it's going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars all over the country and we'll have nice hard sites, the door closes and now we can't get in. have to send a tractor through the walls. so we have to be careful of that. then we have to create a culture that cherishes life and human dignity. so we're going to all sit around, we're going to come up with some ideas.

hopefully we can put those ideas in a very bipartisan bill. it would be so beautiful to have one bill that everybody could support as opposed to 15 bills, everybody has their own bill. but if we could have one terrific bill that everybody started by the people around this table, special people. these are the people that seem to be just most interested, very interested in this problem. it's a big problem. so with that, i think i'd like to start, maybe i'll ask john you can start off and go back and forth. we'll leave the media for a little while and they can hear some thought. but it's something that can be done. there's no reason for this. again, i really believe that those people, idealistic, it's wonderful, it's a beautiful thing. if you think somebody can walk in a school, they feel they're not going to have bullets coming at them from the other direction, you're never going to solve the problem. i feel that. i'm certainly open to

suggestions. so john, why don't you start. you've put in your fixed nix and see how it is. go ahead. >> thank you, mr. president, for getting us together and expressing your sincere concern about this and trying to get us to a solution. i agree with you that leaving this town and going home empty-handed is not acceptable. the public demands that we act. we know how hard it is to get people together on a bipartisan basis, but believe it or not, at least in one case, senator murphy and i, we have a 46 co-sponsors to the fix nix bill. i believe it's a good place to start. as you know, southerland springs, we lost 26 people when guy who was in the air force, a convicted felon. he was convicted of domestic

violence. he was less than honorably discharged from the military. none of which was uploaded in the background checks by the fbi. that's only as good as the data put into it. so senator murphy and 46 senators have what we think is a start. it's not the end-all be-all. there's other things that people want to add to it. we talked about the bump stock issue that senator feinstein cares passionately about that. >> i'm going to write the bump stoc stock, essentially write it out. that will be gone shortly. we can focus on other things. i don't know if it would be good in this bill. it's nicer to have a separate piece of paper where it's gone. we'll have that done quickly. they're working on it right now, the lawyers. go ahead. >> but we need to get started on things that only we can do, which would be this background check system. people have other ideas. they ought to offer those ideas. i'm not sure all will pass.

in the past we've acquiesced failure and have not done things we know within our power to accomplish like the fix nix bill. i'd like to recommend to you and to colleagues that we get that done and build on it. don't stop there. build on it. because none of us want to look these families in the face in the wake of another mass shooting and say we failed to do everything within our power to stop it. >> and john, fix nix has good things in it. it would be nice if we can add everything on to it. maybe change the title. the u.s. background check bill or whatever. your bill is really good and really important, having to do with a certain aspect. maybe we can make it much more comprehensive and have one bill instead of 15 different bills that nobody knows what is happening. >> if we can get 60 votes for it, i'm all for it. >> i think you can. i believe this is one of the things that you can get the 60

votes and maybe easily. diane, do you have something? >> well, i do, mr. president. you probably know this, but i became mayor of san francisco as a product of assassination. i've been the victim of terrorist groups. the department gave me a weapon. they taught me how to shoot it. we proceeded through the 1970s that way. what i've watched and seen is the development of weapons that i never thought would leave the battlefield. that are out on our streets. the latest and newest, mr. chairman, is the ar-15. it's got a lot of assets to it. it's misused. it tears apart a human body with the velocity. i've watched the school shootings in particular, which you pointed out. i thought sandy hook -- i'm

delighted that senator murphy is here today. we thought sandy hook would be the end. he and i introduced another assault weapons bill after the first one. we didn't succeed with it. but the killings have gone on. the number of incidents have gone up. i put my case in writing, which i will give you, if i may, in letter form. >> good. thank you. >> and secondly the assaults weapons legislation, this is the number of incidents before -- of -- of incidents and of deaths. this is when the ten-year assault weapon ban was in. how incidents and deaths drops. when it ended, you can see it going up. so senator murphy and 26 of us have co-sponsored a new bill. i would be most honored if you

would take a look at it. >> i will. >> we will get it to you and let us know what you think of it. >> i will. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. chris? go ahead. >> mr. president, thank you very much. thanks for taking this seriously. our hearts go out to parkland. we know having gone through this since sandy hook, that community will never ever be the same. and i want to bring us back to this issue of background checks if i could. i think there's real opportunity. >> i agree. >> there's no other issue out there in the american public like background checks. 97% of americans want universal background checks. in states that have universal background checks, there's 35% less gun murders than in states that don't have them and we can't get it done. nothing else like that. where it works, people want it. we can't do it. >> but you have a different president now. >> listen -- >> you want through a lot of presidents. you have a different president. maybe you have a different attitude. people want to get it done. >> in the end, mr. president,

the reason that nothing has gotten done here, the gun lobby has had veto power over any legislation that comes before congress. i wish that wasn't the case. if all we end up doing is the stuff that the gun industry supports, this isn't worth it. we're not going to make a difference. i'm glad you sat down with the nra. but we will get 60 votes on a bill that looks like the compromise. if you come to congress, if you say we're going to get the background checks done, it will pass. if this meeting ends of with vague notions of future compromise, nothing will happen. >> we don't want that. >> we have a unique opportunity to get comprehensive background checks. nobody that is seriously mental ill or on the terrorist watch list. but you have to bring

republicans to the table. right now the gun lobby would stop it in its tracks. >> i like that responsibility. it's time that a president stepped up and we haven't had him. i'm talking democrat and republican presidents. they have not stepped up. i'd like to have mat tomorrow my and joe manchin. can you talk about your bill? i haven't heard a lot about it, actually. >> absolutely, mr. president. i do think our bill is the best chance of moving forward. we have 54 votes in 2013. the most that any bill in this space got. it has several components. the first title is a title that is very similar to what john cornyn and chris murphy's bill does. it strengthens the reporting of information into the background checks system. >> have one bill is nicer than seven bills. >> right. >> the second part has a provision that would require background checks on all commercial sales. one of the big gaps in our

background check system today is sales at gun shows and sales over the internet are not necessarily subject to a background check. we think they should be. they're commercial in nature and they're on a scale that really matters. so our bill would require those background checks. we also have a number of provisions which -- >> you have support for that? bipartisan support? for what you're saying? >> we had 54 votes in 2013. most of those 54 voters are still in the senate. >> you didn't have a lot of presidential backup? >> the president supported it -- >> that was the problem. >> there was a worry he wanted to go further. that was a concern for some of our guys. there's two other items. one is a list of ways in which a law abiding citizen could have greater freedom to exercise the second amendment. allowing an active duty military person to be able to buy a firearm in his home state. today that's against the law. it shouldn't be. our bill would correct that.

a number of other small things. finally, we create a commission to look at the sources and causes of these terrible mass killings. >> what are you doing in the schools? >> we have a school safety program in this bill also. when i was governor, we fixed a lot of schools. we remodeled our schools. nobody has ever said gorman chin, you have to make sure you have to have the first floor windows bulletproof. that's the way sandy hook killer got his way. in there's not a person in west virginia that believes you're not going to defend our second amendment rights. not a person. with you, taking a lead on something like, this gives them the comfort -- this bill has been vetted for five years. over 80% even of gun owners say we like your bill, pat and joe but we're afraid president obama would take our rights away i.

>> is that an excuse to not sign it? he was no proactive in getting a bill signed in all fairness. >> with your support, this bill would pass. basically it takes commercial sales, any -- >> and if we use that as a base, you could add some of the things that will be said in the room or you may not want to but there's things that will be said today that will be in addition to yours, joe, which you can add almost everything because you know what that involves. it would be a very positive things in terms of background checks. >> on this piece of legislation here without background checks, on commercial transactions, if a person basically -- when the terrorists say hey, go down to the local gun show and get whatever you want. you can be in a gun show. 2/3s can have licensed dealers, federal licensed dealers that

have to have background checks if you buy it from them. go to the next table over, there's not one. that's a loop hole. intrastate and interstate. if you're selling on the internet, you have to have a background check. one part of new york versus the other, doesn't have to. this closes the loop holes. >> we have to do something about the mentally ill not being able to buy a gun. we have so many checks and balances that you can be mentally ill and it takes you six months before you can prohibit them. so we have to do something very decisive. number 1, you can take the guns away immediately from people that you can ajudge easily are mentally ill like this guy. the police saw he was a problem. they didn't take any guns away. that could have been policing. i think they should have taken them away anyway whether they had the right or not. but i'll tell you this, you have to have very strong provisions for the mentally ill. a lot of people are saying i shouldn't be saying that. i don't want mentally ill people to be having guns. marco? >> mr. president, thanks for

bringing us here. we all agree. we know the issues here. what everyone agrees on we never want to see this happen again anywhere in america. you mentioned something about the shooting that i think is critical. this was a multisystemic failure. without pointing fingers or laying blame on anybody that may or may not be here to defend themselves, the sheriff's office knew this was a problem, the school districts knew this was a problem. the fbi was alerted, the department of children and families in florida knew this was a problem. the big problem is nobody talks to each other. nobody told the others what they knew. and there's a bill out there that senator hatch is going to file very soon and congressman rutherford and others have filed is called the stop school violence act. one of the things it does, it incentivizes the synergy where all of these people are talking to each other and compare notes. the best way to prevent these is

the stop it before it starts that doesn't mean we should harden schools or a debate on other issues. the best thing that can happen is know the people, deny them the right to buy any gun. i think that is something that holds tremendous bipartisan promise. if we can come together on the things we agree on. one last point in the state of florida, they have a different set of rules. they are already moving on legislation, the governor and the legislature. they're going to pass something perhaps by the end of the week on a series of things. we move a lot slower over here. nonetheless, that's an example to us of what i hope we can do in washington. get done what we can agree on. still debate and act on the other things. there's things we agree on, we owe it to the families to do those things. >> i agree. chuck, we have anything? >> i would like to comment from this standpoint, first of all, a caution on mental health. there's a lot of people that

have mental health issues that are not dangerous to themselves or to others. so i think we got to concentrate on those not just that have mental health issues but the one that show danger to themselves and others. otherwise, it's not fair to people that have mental illness that isn't. i'll comment on the culture within the schools. i can't say it any better than senator rubio said or senator hatch was saying. seems to me we have to have a culture in schools where people are attune to people that have problems, that could create this sort of things or anything else that is even connected with bullying. just one example. we have to do things at the federal level that will give school resources to do that. that fits in with what senator hatch is thinking. i'll end with more of a process. as chairman of the committee that will deal with a lot of this legislation, we've got to do something, i want to help

facilitate those things and move them along. see what we can do -- >> you'll be a great help. i have no doubt. thanks, chuck. i'd like to ask joe and pat, in your bill what are you doing about the 18 to 21? >> we didn't -- >> we don't change that. >> are you going to leave that? >> whatever -- >> i have a case right now where somebody can buy a handgun at 21. this is not a popular thing to say in terms of the nra. but i'm saying it anyway. i just have to say it. but you can't buy -- think of it. you can -- you can't buy a handgun. you have to wait till you're 21 but you can buy the weapon used in the school shooting at 18. i think it's something you have to think about. i'll tell you what, i'm going to give it a lot of consideration and i'm the one bringing it up. a lot of meme don't want to bring it up because they're afraid to bring it up.

you can't buy a handgun at 18, 19 or 20. you have to wait till you're 21 but you can buy this gun used in the shooting. you're going to decide, the people are going to decide. but i would give very serious thought to it. the nra is opposed to it. aim fan of the nra. no bigger fan. i'm a big fan of the nra. these are great people, great patriots. they love our country. that doesn't mean we have to agree on everything. it doesn't make sense to get 21 to get a handgun but i can get this weapon at 18. i'm curious as to what you did in your bill. >> we didn't address it, mr. president. >> you're afraid of the nra, right? >> no. >> it's a big issue now. a lot of people are talking about it. a lot of people are afraid of that issue. raising the age for that weapon to 21. >> my reservation about it

frankly is that the vast majority of 18, with 19 and 20-year-olds in pennsylvania who have a rifle or a shotgun, they're not a threat to anyone. they're law-abiding citizens. they want it for hunting or target shooting. to deny them their second amount right is not going to make anybody safer. >> i know where you're coming from. i understand that. i think it's a position. it's a position. but i think if we're going to use you as a base, the two of you, you're going to have to iron out that problem. i'm going to ask it more than any other question. are you going to 21 or not? okay. anybody? yes. steve. >> there's many around this table as a father of four, an uncle. i was with osterman won her

election. new town happened. she was campaigning. the first four words you said to me, we need to >> right. true. >> the only worst thing than doing nothing is doing something that doesn't achieve the intended result. you were in business your entire life. i was in business 28 years. business is not about activities and doing things. it's about results. the active shooting kid is cowardly. moms and dads want to know when they drop off their kids, they are safe. this morning i came in early. i bypassed the gym, went to spend some time thinking when nobody else is in the office at 7:00 a.m. i put together a shoot of the 14 mass killings following the new town incident. if there's three or more people that lost their lives it's

considered a mass killing. since columbine, we've had 14 of these in our country. my staff put together a nice spreadsheet. i was handwriting this, looking up where did it happen, what year, how many died, what was the age of the shooter. if under 21, how was the firearm obtained, what was the weapon used and what was the status of the shooter. mostly are suicides. >> what is their offensive firepower on the inside of those facilities so that when the gunman comes in, we have defensive capability? one other thing, if he knew there was offensive power inside of the 14 events, probably none of them would have happened. >> so a message -- >> important to understand. >> a message of deterrence is important to understand. we stop about thinking about the homicidal, suicidal killers. there were meetings after 9-11

after that horrible event occurred. meetings after it occurred. we made a decision as a nation, we're going to secure our skies. we can never let that happen again. we had to restore the trust of the public to get back on airplanes. mr. president, we need to secure our schools. because parents want action now. we had some huge society issues. these shooters are males, they're white and they're suicidal. >> and cowards. >> and they're cowards. cowards can be stopped with deadly force. that's why i agree with you that we need to secure our schools and allow the states hand the school boards to figure that out. there's a rule in the federal government. marco talked about what happened in florida. last week in montana, i was just north of a school the day after they stopped and arrested a 18-year-old in darby, montana

because he put on snap chat that he was going to shoot up the school. the sheriff arrested that young man and most likely prevented another mass shooting. that's what we need. >> good. thank you, steve. >> thank you, mr. president. i spent a lot of time since the shooting in marjory stoneman douglas with the students that survived. they have been very clear that what they want is action. i am hartened by what you say for the need for presidential leadership. you can do this. i understand, mr. president, that you met with the nra. what matters here is not the nra. what matters here is preventing another one of these mass shootings. so i'm so grateful to hear that senator toomey and manchin's bill not might be -- i would

suggest must be a part of this. there's so many things that we can do right now. the only thing i would add, you started mr. president by pointing out there would be differences of opinion. please know that our great differences of opinion on the question of whether having teachers armed with guns firing back at a potential mass shooter is the answer? i don't think it is. many others don't. please also know that there are -- the majority of this people in the country now understand that there are limitations on the second amendment. you cannot an automatic weapon, you cannot on a bazooka. so there's no reason to continue to sell to people a weapon of war like this. i know there's differences of opinion. i just hope that we can act, that we can show the american people and the kids and their grieving families in my district

that with presidential leadership, doesn't matter what congress says, you can help push this forward and we will consider everything. >> good. i like that. i appreciate that. the fact is a lot is up to the states. that's good. the states are going to feel differently. texas, as an example, is very much as to what i'm saying. you've done very well. you haven't had -- >> eight states, six more considering. >> eight states and another six or seven or eight considering. that's okay. you may be different and you may have a very good thing for your state. so i don't think the states have to be the same. what does have to be the same the background checks and all of the data, whether it's fix nix or all of the things we're adding. that has to be the same. you have to share with states and localities. i agree with you. i do think this. i think some states are different. some states will do what texas does. some states don't want that program. i think it's a good program.

but some states don't want that program. the reason i like it is that i really believe it's going to prevent it from ever happening. they are cowards and they're not going in when they near they're going to come out dead. they're not going to go in a school when they're going to come out dead. when you look at this guy in florida, he walked out with everybody like it was a fire drill. he walked out and he got away. a policeman did a fantastic job two towns away. he found him. he saw him. he wasn't given much credit. he looked like the description and he got him. a great job. so we have to give them some credit. this was not the finest day. this man and probably two or three others were not very good. they didn't do their job very well. but i agree with what you say. amy, please. >> thank you for calling us together today. i come from a proud hunting state. >> you do. >> i have that but i have law enforcement. i was a prosecutor for eight

years. i got involved in this issue from police coming to me. one of the issues they raised for years is fact that there was this gun show loop hole and issues with commercial purchases that didn't allow them to get the information they need to make sure that the people were safe. that's why's been such a strong supporter of the manchin-toomey bill. it's a good base. >> it's the best we've ever done, too. >> i want to make one more case. we appreciate your support for that bill from a different perspective. the states that have the background checks, they have a 38% lower domestic homicide rate, this is domestic violence. for those cases, especially, it makes a major difference. this number for you to keep with you, 6,000 women in ten years were killed by a partner, whether it was a spouse, a boyfriend, 6,000.

that is more than we lost from brave troops in iraq and afghanistan. so just doing something on the background check issue and using that as a base and i would like to add some of these other things we've talked about i think would make a major difference -- >> if you can add that to this bill, that would be great, diane. if you can add what you have also -- >> show us you're ready. >> can you do that, joe? can you do that, pat? you're not going to agree -- >> if you help. >> can you add what amy and what diane have? can we add them? >> i have another one that is very narrow and dating partners. a number of states -- >> i'll say this. we're going to get it passed. if you can add domestic violence paragraphs, pages into this bill, i'm all for it. i think it's terrific if you can do it. it can be done. that can be done, too.

>> can i respectfully wreckment that steve scalise, the vote counter in the house will be a key role in this. he's had a personal near tragic experience with one of thinks mass shootings himself. >> good. >> i appreciate mr. president you convening everybody. thank you, senator cornyn. my whip counterpart. the house did pass a bill dealing with fixing problems with our background checks system. we also combined with it a bill that advanced concealed carry reciproci reciprocity. people having conceal carry in one state and having to same ability in another state with conceal carry laws that are on the books. before that's discounted because i know when we passed our bill, number 1, i did have to whip that bill. it didn't just automatically passed. there were a lot of members that said look, we want to close these problems and fix these problems with the background check system. we came together and passed a bill. but we also felt if you look at

the conceal carry population, these are people by and large that are helping us stop crimes. these are people well-trainand actually help prevent crimes. i would hope it's not immediately dismissed. there's a lot of talk of putting that on the side -- >> i do think like this. you know i'm you're biggest fan in the whole world. i think that maybe that bill will some day pass but it should pass as a separated. if you're going to put conceal carry in this bill, we're talking about a whole new ball game. you know, i'm with you, but let it be a separate bill. you'll never get this passed. if you add conceal carry, you'll never get it passed. let it be a separate bill. >> i don't think -- again, you'll never get it passed. we want to get something done. what is your second point? >> at least recognize that. look at the data. a lot of people want to dismiss conceal permits. i understand your point. i did appreciate the other

points you brought up. look, you talk about mental health problems. that's at the core of some of these mass shootings. we came together in a bipartisan as the 21st century cures act and passed a major overall of our mental health system. didn't get much attention because it was very bipartisan. that bill -- you just appointed an assistant secretary of mental health created in that law. let's make sure that they have the tools they need. they're tasked with finding the loop holes. how are people slipping through the cracks. the thing that makes me the most angry, when you see so many governmental institutions, federal and local that broke down and allowed this kid not only to get a gun, but to let him slip through the crashes when it wasn't just students. believe me there -- we think he's a shooter. he said he was going to be a professional school shooter and the fbi let him go. you know this. the people have protected me and my other colleagues on that

field. law enforcement did their job. i appreciate you gave them the medal of freedom -- >> if you didn't have those two people you wouldn't be here and 250 25 others wouldn't be here. >> that's obviously one of the balances that we have. so the house did take action. clearly the senate may have some issues with parts of the bill. let's not discard that. let's have a broader conversation and we'll continue this. >> okay. that's fine. marsha? >> yes, mr. president, first of all, i want to say thank you for saying let's go to the source of the problem. so many times we react to something. picking up on what the whip said with the new assistant secretary of mental health. yes, indeed we need to look at

the tools they have and looking at these young adults, individuals that cross the 18-year-old threshold and who within their family or their caregiver has access to the mental health records and how law enforcement has the ability to get that information from children services, so many of these have records through their teenage years -- >> and we're working on that. >> and we need to have that disability. and the house has wanted to fix that system. another thing that has come up from some of the moms. i was a room mother when my kids were in school. now as a grandmother, i'm talking to a lot of young moms. they have side one of the things we need to do as we review these issues is look at entertainment. the video games, the rating

system, the movie. how things are approved and what children are being exposed to. especially children that have some of these mental health issues. they feel that has a role to play. now some of my sheriffs -- >> that's a very important point. the video games, movies, the internet stuff is so violent. it's so incredible. i see it. i get to see things that you wouldn't be -- you'd be amazed at. i have a very young son. i see the things that he's watching. i say how is that possible? this is what kids are watching. i think you maybe have to take a look at it. you rated movies for different things. maybe you have to rate them for terror, to what they're doing and what they're about. it's hard to believe that at least for a percentage or maybe it's a small percentage of children, this doesn't have a negative impact on their thought

process. these things are really violent. >> some of the young moms have mentioned this. they're very concerned about that exposure and children being desensitized to violence. so they would like that. one of my sheriffs had a great idea. he's in putnam county, tennessee. he said we talk about hardening the schools. we have read-to-me programs in school. how about protect-me programs? that some of our fop retirees could take the lead on and go in and as a volunteer help to protect those while we work through this issue of how your local states and federal agencies will work together and find solutions for this. so those are things that my constituents are saying and would like to have raised. they want solutions to them. i appreciate the leadership. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> mr. president, you're

absolutely right. you can lead on this in a way that nobody else can because for all of those americans out there that this second amendment is so critically important to them, they believe you, that you're not going to go into their home and take their firearms. you have a credibility that nobody else can bring. that's why you can lead. maybe you heard my call. you act when you see an opportunity to save life. >> yeah, we're all going to lead. i'm not going to worry about 60 votes. 60%, meaning, should be so easy. it should be 100%. kristin, you have something? >> you underestimate the power of the gun lobby. >> i tell you what, the reason i had lunch with the nra sunday -- i called them. i said you have to come over. we have to do something. they do have great power. i agree with that. they have great power over you people. they have less power over me. what do i need? i tell you, they're

well-meaning. i said to them very nice, i said we have to do something. we have to do what is right. when it comes to mental health callers, we have to do what is right. i'm telling you, i think they're there. i think they're there. some of you people are petrified of the nra. you can't be pet try filed. they want to do what is righted. i believe that. it was a very good lunch. yes, sir. >> i want to give you a perspective from 41 years of law enforcement, 12 as a sheriff. riding the streets of jacksonville, florida. i can tell you one of the things that i learned during that 41 years and a lot in this room can tell you as well, security is always a multilayered approach. as we talk about the background checks, who can buy a gun, who cannot, all of those things are important. and all of those are a parts of the security that we can create

for our country. but know this, and you said it, all of that can break down and someone go into a gun-free zone and kill at will. defenseless. >> defenseless. >> number 1 for security -- the only thing -- it sounds cliche' but it's cliche' because it's true. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. so you have to have those officers or some armed security at our schools. now, the issue is -- we talk about those are areas where there are no guns. the reason i carry a concealed firearm everywhere i go is because i don't know where those gun-free zones are that i may be

walking through at the mall or at the doughnut shop or wherever i might be. that's why i carry conceal. so i can protect myself, i can protect my family who might be with me and i can protect all of those around me who choose not to carry a firearm. >> you're not allowed concealed in a gun-free zone. so what do you do? >> you can't carry in those areas. so you're -- so that's why -- >> they're the most dangerous places, gun-free zones. it's true. >> i think we need to look back at the conceal carry issue of national reciprocity. >> you won't get conceal carry approved. amy and diane and -- a lot of 0 them people, people they -- they're never going to consider it. people may consider it. they're not going to consider this bill. all -- >> if you don't want to do away

with a gun-free zone -- >> as far as i'm concerned, i would. i'm looking at getting did of gun-free zones in the military. we have them in the military and five incredible soldiers, three of whom were championship shooters that were nowhere near their gun and this whack job walked in and killed them. they were defenseless. if they had their guns they would have been gone in a second. >> and every time i'm in a gun-free zone, a restaurant a grocery store -- >> i want to get rid of them on military bases. >> let me close with this. the mental health aspect is critical for law enforcement. we have -- we take folks that were a danger to themselves and others, we baker acted them in florida. it's called baker act in florida. they're there three days. they get out and we have to give them their guns back.

i tried not to do that one time and i got sued and lost the case. i had to give the guns back and we got fined. so the state of florida has this bill that was mentioned earlier that the senate just passed. it has these risk protection orders built in. there's some states that already have that, i believe. i think those are going to be critical for law enforcement to help take the guns out of the hands of these individuals that we know should not be carrying. then we need to make sure those individuals get placed into the national background checks system. >> mr. president, the vice president, the state of indiana has done a good job. >> go ahead, mike. >> you spoke about it, gun violence, restraining orders they're called. california has a version of this. i think you -- in you're meeting with governors earlier

individually and as a ground we talked about states taking a step. the focus is to give families and give local law enforcement additional tools if an individual is reported to be a potential danger to themselves or others. allow due process. the ability to go to court, obtain an order and collect the firearms -- >> or mike, take the firearms first and then go to court. that's another system. a lot of times by the time you go to court, it takes so long to go to court to get the due process procedures. i like taking the guns early. like in this crazy man's case that just took place in florida. he had a lot of -- had everything. to go to court would have taken a long time. you can do what you're saying but take the guns first, go through do process second. >> we think about the tragedy in sandy hook. >> that's right. >> adam lanza's mother that

spoke to law enforcement, smoke to local officials. she was concerned over and over again. i know our colleagues from connecticut lived this and saw it. literally give families some tools. my state has done it and other states have done to take action to remove those weapons for either a set period of time or longer to make sure that person can't be a threat. >> i like that. marco? >> just to add, obviously that's a state law provision. there's some people working on what we can do as the federal level to incentivizes states to do that. it brings home this point. the vice president alluded to it. congressman rutherford touched on it. there's people here that tried to do something. they called the fbi, called the sheriff's office. but legally, they had no recourse to get ahead of this and stop it in terms of taking away guns and placing them in a facility or some other measure

with a court order to prevent them from doing it. even if law enforcement had gone to see them, they would have been limited as well. there may be something we can do to incentivize it. your office, senate eor bloomingthal and others can do it. >> in the 21st century cures bill, we provided additional grants to use outpatient treatment as a variation of what the vice president talked about. ad adam lanza's mother, she needed help to get a court order that forced him to take his medication and follow his doctor's orders. many people with mental illness, if they take their medication, they're compliant, can function productively in society.

there's a variety of tools. that's one that is in law in addition to what the states -- >> let me ask this, chris and john. are you better off having a one-off bill or can you merge it in to joe and pat's bill? i like it much better. having a comprehensive bill. i like the word "comprehensive." they say it's a bad word. because it represents things. to me, i like the word "comprehensive." i'd rather have a comprehensive bill. can your merge yours into this bill or would you rather have separate bill? >> the most important thing you said is that we act. >> have to act. >> we don't go home empty handed. we want to work together -- >> it would be nice to create something that is beautiful that works. the biggest thing, chris, the biggest surprise to me because's been doing this for two years, right? three years now. time flies. but i've been here for a little more than a year. what surprises me more than

anything else is that nothing has been done for all of these years. because i really see a lot of common ground where there's democrat, republican. i'm so surprised. i'm sitting here and i'm saying, you know, a lot of commonality here. a lot of people agreeing with what you're writing and you guys are writing. i don't understand why it hasn't happened for the last 20 years. nothing has happened. so we're going to get it done. >> we can add anything to fix nix that has 60 votes. the argument is that background checks can be add to it if it has your support. i would just add -- i hope we follow the data here. the data will tell you -- you talked about safe schools and mental illness. the data tells you that america has a gun violence rate 20 times than in other country. our schools are not less safe. we don't spend less money on law enforcement. what is difference, we have the loosest gun laws.

we need to fix the mental illness program. >> yes have to do it. >> the data tells us the one thing that is different about the united states is our unbelievably loose gun laws. i hope we follow it. >> become ground checks -- >> that's right. >> they work together. i like it together better. but joe, you have to fix mental illness. if somebody is mentally ill right now, they can go out and buy. you can't take it away. it's ridiculous. you have to fix it. i'm sure you're going to fix it. i think the merger works out better. chuck, were you going to say one thing? >> you're showing leadership through this meeting. following on what marsha said about the incivility of our society and the culture of our society, the thought came to my mind that maybe you could show leadership about all the violence we have out of hollywood and these videos. you watch fox news probably like i do. every night you can see all of these films about everybody being blown up. just think of the impact that

makes on young people. get them in here and preach to them like you're preaching to us. >> actually fox news does a very good job. you're right. it's very violent. the movies are violent and the videos are violent. beyond anything -- >> you have governors telling you the same thing. the culture of our society has to change to stop this. >> i agree with that. i agree. >> elizabeth? >> thank you very much, mr. president and vice president. i've been waiting a bracelet like this for five times. i was sitting with new member training when i got a called about a school shooting. six educators in new town. i haven't had a day that chris and i don't think about it. that's been our nightmare for the people we represent. it's ted's nightmare. >> so why didn't they do

something? like at columbine. so many of these horrible events? why didn't -- went did this group of people plus others and some have gone and some -- >> i think people tried. but your point is this. we're at a tipping point. we're at a tipping point. why we are, i don't know. i think it's the students. >> you know why we are? because a week will go by, another week and another week and all of a sudden people will be on to other things. we can't let that happen. >> we have the power to change that. >> you know that's what's happened. >> so there are two things that we can do right now. i think the manchin toomey bill has 200 bipartisan co sponsors. you need 218 to pass. >> i think congress will be fine. if we can come up with something that is very strong, very heavy with mental illness, very heavy -- the background checks

are so important. people are afraid to do background checks. you're afraid of somebody. you know what? you're going to be more popular. if you have a strong, good -- i don't care who is endorsing you or not endorsing you. you'll be more popular if that's what you're into. i'm not into popularity. i'm into getting something done. let's get something good done. let's do it properly. john, real fast. >> let me talk about how to get dunce, keep guns out of the hands of bad folks. one of the issues is the gun show loop hole that everybody talks about and also guns stolen out of cars that are good gun owners that are not storing properly. stolen guns kill more people than guns that are bought legally. one want to prevent that is through a background check at the point of sale of every gun, ffl dealers, they do it. but i can buy a gun off of the street from an individual that

i've never met before and nobody does a background check. here's what you do. you require a purchaser's permit at the point of sale of every gun in this country. at the point of sale, you have to have a buyer's permit. the way you get your buyer's permit, if i want to buy a gun from senator rubio, i go to an ffl dealer, and i have my a background check run, have my buyer's permit and he sells me his gun after i show him to the permit. >> the nra would love it. >> if i don't have my permit, it's against the law for him to sell it to me and it's against the law for me to buy it. now, everybody is thinking, well, nobody is going to do that. who will know? then what happens, law enforcement has the opportunity to go into this streets and buy and sell guns from people that are in there buying and selling guns right now and we can actually make arrests and get those guys off the streets who

are selling guns illegally -- well, they're not illegal sales but they're selling to the guys that probably are illegal -- >> you have a real black market. they don't worry about anything. they don't worry about anything you're saying. they sell a gun and the buyer doesn't care and the seller. that's one of the problems we all will have. you have that problem with drugs. you make the drugs illegal and they come -- you've never had a problem. we're fighting it hard. but you have never had a problem like this, so you have the same problem with guns. a lot of great people go out and register, do all sorts of things but you have a black market that don't think about registering or they're not going to be looking at joe and pat's bill. they couldn't care less about it. we have to be very strong on that. you'll have provisions there. big penalties, strong penalties. john, you have to finish up. >> i was going to say, the purchaser's permit allows law enforcement to go into the black

market and buy and sell guns and make arrests of the folks that are in there doing it illegally. >> we have to be very tough on the black market. >> exactly. >> mr. president, i represent central florida. i think in the aftermath of these types of tragedies, the american people want to see decollected heres do something. i'm heartened -- >> and this didn't happened after pulse. how bad was pulse. nothing happened? >> thank you for bringing us together. i've heard a number of ideas. i wanted to present one that i haven't heard yet. i have a bipartisan bill to remove the sticky amendment which has prevented the last couple decades the cdc and other federal agencies from researching gun violence. i think that your secretary of hhs has said that he thinks we should research gun violence. it's a key