Says complexity is not an excuse for inaction.
Former astronaut Mark Kelly was in Colorado Monday, testifying before state lawmakers in favor of universal background checks in the aftermath of last summer's movie theater massacre in Aurora.
Kelly said he and his wife, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords truly are gun enthusiasts, but that doesn't mean everyone should own one.
“He should not have passed a background check,” Kelly said of the man who shot his wife during a weekend chat with constituents outside a grocery store in Tucson, AZ. “He was clearly mentally ill, the Army knew he was an admitted heavy drug user, those records should have been in the system.”
In the years since Giffords was shot in Tucson, the couple started a gun control advocacy group dubbed "Americans for Responsible Solutions." Kelly admits his wife's shooter could have obtained a weapon at a gun show, or private dealer. That's why he thinks universal background checks are necessary."
“The breadth and complexity for gun violence is great,” said Kelly. “But that is not an excuse for inaction.”
Colorado is considering some of the nation's toughest gun laws after last summer's movie theater massacre. So tough, even some gun makers are threatening to move their facilities if the laws pass.
