how does he purchase a gun after that in violation of the lautenberg amendment? we need to also ask why in the world anyone needs to own an assault weapon. i understand people buy rifles shotguns and handguns for self-defense and sporting but why does anyone need to own a military style weapon when they can be converted as we found in las vegas to a weapon that discharges 100 rounds in seven seconds. that's totally unnecessary for any legitimate legal purse -- purpose. it's available perhaps for military use and perhaps for law enforcement but not for the ordinary american citizen who would purchase and own a gun for

how did he purchase a gun after that in violation of the lautenberg amendment? we need to also ask why in the world anyone needs to own an assault weapon. i understand people will buy rifles, shotguns, and even handguns for sporting and self-defense, but why does anyone need to own a military-style weapon, one that can be converted, as we found in las vegas, to a weapon that discharges 100 rounds in seven seconds? that is totally unnecessary for any legitimate legal purpose. it is available perhaps for military use, perhaps for law enforcement, but not for the ordinary american citizen who would purchase and own a gun for legitimate purposes. next we need to make sure that we understand why this gun violence is growing in america. the number of people who have been killed, injured just grows by the year. it's getting worse. we need to also talk about the issue of mental health raised by the president in response to this tragedy in texas. the president said, quote, this isn't a gun situation. i think that mental health is your problem here, end of quote. despite

and i would illustrate it this way, there is something called the lautenberg amendment. this was based in 1996, which prevents anyone, as james said, convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence crime from buying a gun. now, the military does comply with the lautenberg amendment and this individual was discharged with a bad conduct discharge versus a dishonorable discharge. apparently that should not have mattered. it really should have moved over. we're not sure why it didn't. i will add one more thing, though, jake, which is that the background check system, the federal law that requires it, applies to federally licensed firearms dealers. at the point of sale with any licensed federal firearms dealer, that check would have to be conducted. however, in private transfers that check is not necessarily required. some states require it and some states don't. texas is a state that does not require background check at, you know, in the secondary market basically. they can. they can proactively do it but they don't have to. and about 40% of gun transfers happen through private

earlier in the show i talked bout the lautenberg amendment and disqualifying act of this young man. and so whether or not that was entered into we will find out in the coming days. but one of the issues i heard in six years i served in the house is the states said we money to enough comply to really populate the nix background check. we came together and we made there was appropriations so we increased the funding for hat to help the states with compliance. president obama signed that bill. it was an appropriations bill. i appreciate that. ost: a democrat from connecticut. caller: good morning. and good morning former congressman. a coupleng because for of reasons. retired e, i am a reference librarian who taught to college students on oing research and on the importance of dealing with both sides of an issue. really upsets me with this rb, election is that, yes president trump did win the , and hillary ege million more ree votes than donald trump. ever a situation to any at says we don't need it.eme measures, this is and both parties should be together and not pushing just extreme

of course the lautenberg amendment which prevents those convicted of domestic abuse from buying weaponsslation. but if there's anything the president has done is to roll back obama era protects that would have kept weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill. that happened back in february. >> yeah. and look, that goes to the philosophical positions of republicans and democrats on this. we haven't seen anything change that whether it was newtown, las vegas or other shootings that happened in the past with increasing frequency. what republicans always focus on is the fact that you cannot limit law-abiding citizens from purchasing guns and that people that intend to do harm are going to find a way to do it. i'm no the standing up for any of the positions here but explaining to you the corners that you are going to see both parties in. both have been rewarded by their voters for sticking to these positions. what will be interesting here, though, and parentimportant is that the president talking about this as a mental health issue out of the gate can loosen up any wheels for dealing with t

on the lautenberg side of this, the idea he was convicted of a crime of domestic violence is somethingd be transmitted to something called the texas crime information center as well as the national crime information center. that would be the right way to do it. they still can't tell us at the air force whether or not these transfers were made and what administrative changes potentially they consider to make sure they make this smoothly. >> all right. hans, thanks very much. hans nichols at the pentagon for us. >>> for more on all of this i'm joined by david chipman, former special agent at the atf and former policy adviser for americans for responsible solutions as well as cliff van sent, former fbi profiler and msnbc contributor and author of "facing down evil" thanks to you both. david, start with you. based on what you just heard from hans, we're just trying to figure out that given the court-martial he faced for the very serious things that he was found responsible for doing, should this, this man have been able to get a gun? >> well, actually, i was thinking about your prior, pete

amendment, former senator lautenberg from new jersey, that'd mean he'd be put on a list in a universal law enforcement system that would prevent him from getting a firearm. so yes, he didn't relieve the dishonorable discharge, the strongest level, which is sometimes equated with a felony -- >> hans, i have to interrupt. the press conference in texas is starting now. >> director of public safety. i'll read something to start off this press briefing. almost 24 hours ago, this community was struck by unthinkable tragedy. first and foremost, we'd like to keep our thoughts and prayers with the families who have lost loved ones, the victims who were injured and the entire community who has come together to support each other during this difficult time. our investigators worked tirelessly around the clock since the shooting. we will continue to do so to gather all the facts and evidence in this investigation. here's what we confirm at this point. the deceased, there are 26 decreased, 23 in the church, two outside the church and one at the hospital. the total wounded include -- the total numbe

how did he purchase a gun after that in violation of the lautenberg amendment? we need to also ask why in the world anyone needs to own an assault weapon. i understand people will buy rifles, shotguns, and even handguns for sporting and self-defense, but why does anyone need to own a military-style weapon, one that can be converted, as we found in las vegas, to a weapon that discharges 100 rounds in seven seconds? that is totally unnecessary for any legitimate legal purpose. it is available perhaps for military use, perhaps for law enforcement, but not for the ordinary american citizen who would purchase and own a gun for legitimate purposes. next we need to make sure that we understand why this gun violence is growing in america. the number of people who have been killed, injured just grows by the year. it's getting worse. we need to also talk about the issue of mental health raised by the president in response to this tragedy in texas. the president said, quote, this isn't a gun situation. i think that mental health is your problem here, end of quote. despite

the separate issue is the lautenberg amendment. when there is a crime under civilian codes as domestic violence, whether or not that automatically gets reported. because there isn't anything in the military that translates directly to domestic violence. they're trying to harmonize this. that's the longer term goal. the more immediate goal is figuring out is there anyone else out there that isn't recorded that should be in this data base. >> we're just getting word in from speaker ryan who has said there should be no more safe place from the evils of outside. that a place of worship. he talks about enforcing the laws. he says how about enforcing the laws we've got on the books. this man should not have gotten a gun. you know why? because he was a domestic abuser. so this is a point that we've been discussing. we're not having the full discussion right now because it's a tough and a hard complicated conversation to have about guns in general. but i think we can have a fair conversation about whether people who have abused their spous

democrats went to court to replace him with frank lautenberg. lautenberg went on to easily win that election. >> this brings us back to politics here, right. this is a six-point race. that's not that far outside. in alabama, you go back to tuesday night, wednesday, howard dean saying this is a race democrats can win a. winnable race, tough before the write in. i'll say as we head into 2018, you got a todd aiken six here where this will have reverbations outside of alabama. we may have the horror of roy moore winning this race, now you will have republicans all over the country in districts not alabama in suburban districts asked the question over and over again, what do you think about roy moore? are you on roy moore's side? >> do you believe the women? >> this is going to be another, just from the suburban districts where republicans are in a bad w way. again this is todd aiken times five. the way the current electoral landscape looks where democrats can easily win. this will be a issue they will be dealing with, toxic issue, all thanks to stev

from when i started here, i had some mentors like senator lautenberg and my predecessor in congress, the real battle of a member of congress is trying to implement the right to know. i can hear the senator saying it right now. i think that is what you are our saying. anduld definitely follow up see whether it is through outreach, orr more whatever combination. i appreciate that and will take your word. anyone else? important that we focus on protecting our future players and doing what we can. but i want to raise to the committee probing attention that this may be a growing problem over the next couple of decades, just based on the people who have already played. not necessarily those who have played in the nfl, the pros. there are approximately 12 million americans who played high school football, smaller factions who played college football, who are now in their late 50's, early 60's. they started to play at the beginning of the era of the big helmets, facemasks and the beginning of organized youth football. the big helmets, facemask did not stay until -- start until the 50's. pop

and as the author of that legislation, frank lautenberg, said at the time, it's a very simple principle. wife beaters and child abusers should not have guns and the statistics bear out that principle now more than they did ever before the mix of guns and domestic violence is a toxic one. 55% of all homicides against women occur during domestic violence disputes, and a woman is five times more likely to die during a domestic violence dispute if there are guns in the house. and the law also prohibits anyone who has been dishonorably discharged from the military or carries a sentence for more than one year from buying a firearm. so the department of defense has a clear legal obligation to have made that report and, by the way, that obligation includes military court indictments as well as convictions because they may disqualify someone from obtaining a gun. we know today that the shooter in sutherland springs, texas, also was involuntarily committed to a mental health facility after sneaking guns on to an air force basin trying to kill his military -- base and trying to kill his military s