we have the leo shapiro -- ilya shapiro and mark blaze -- glaze. to both of you, gentlemen, thank you for joining us. >> good morning. >> good morning. host: i wanted to start off by reading a statement that was in the "washington post" yesterday. i wanted to get your perspective and take. he wrote this. given the existence of mental illness and criminal gangs, what is the rational design for our gun laws? how do we preserve the right of self-defense and respect the rights of sportsmen's while complicating the plans of the violent? how would you respond to that? guest: that is the way he frames it and many conservative authors have framed it more or less exactly the same way since the shooting in aurora. we have several mayors against guns. you can do much more to keep guns out of the wrong hands while strongly supporting the second amendment and the rights of law-abiding gun owners. what we focus on our common sense solutions that are overwhelmingly supported. everybody ought to get a background check and be able to pass on when they want to get a

. >> this morning, marc glaze and ilya shapiro on gun control. later, dr. peter delaney from the substance abuse and mental illness administration pinned "washington journal," is next. "washington journal," is next.

ilya shapiro, senior fellow at the cato institute, and mark glaze.ation goes for about another 20 minutes. albuquerque, new mexico, good morning. caller: i have two quick questions. i would like both gentlemen to weigh in on the attorney general problem. the gun walking was completely legal. i wanted both gentlemen to weigh in on that quickly. thank you very much. guest: there are two issues. the program itself and then more legal issues. the program seems bizarre to me. it just seems like a bizarre premise. it makes gun dealers uncomfortable when encouraged to sell to all the rest. on the legal side, this is a battle between the congress and the executive about releasing documents. i think the justice department is not being completely forthright. executive privilege from the white house is a little odd. they said they were not involved in decision making, and then when you invoke executive privilege, that means the president receives advice from his advisers. there are a lot of legal strange things going on. ultimately this is a political battle. g