Rep. Steve Scalise And Guy Discuss The Latest On Gun Control in Congress And Where The President Stands On Background Checks

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) And Guy Discuss The Latest On the Gun Control Debate in Congress And Where The President Stands On Background Checks.

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Transcript: 

Guy Benson:  Joining me now on the line is one of our favorite members of Congress he is the House Republican whip from the great state of Louisiana Steve Scalise. Congressman great to have you back guy.

Rep. Scalise:  It’s great to be back with you. How are you.

Guy Benson: I’m doing very well. I have to start as usual with this LSU three and O.. Monster win at Texas in week two. Were you barely able to watch the screen. Down the stretch of that that game against the Longhorns.

Rep. Scalise : If you liked op ed he was great on both sides. That’s true.

Rep. Scalise: You’d much rather win but to win a close game against the Texas team that was really good. Ever really good offense. We had to go earn it and it makes it that much more special when you win. So I like this is LSU this year Alabama better look out.

Guy Benson:  All right. Big words. Let’s keep that tape guys. We won’t play a gotcha. But we have a couple friends from Alabama who come on occasionally so we’ll make sure that ones on the record. Congressman let’s talk about the story that I was just mentioning the former special presidential envoy for hostage affairs at the State Department has been selected as the national security adviser. Robert S. O’BRIEN This coming on the same day as President Trump announcing new quote substantially increased sanctions on the Iranian regime in the wake of attacks that they led and facilitated on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. That’s an order from the president to the secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin to ramp up that pressure. Your reaction to the selection from the president and the new sanctions.

Rep. Scalise:  Well I think Robert O’Brien’s a really strong picks by President Trump. He’s got a great record a long history of standing up for the national security of our nation. And it’s at an important time when you look at what’s happening as you mentioned Iran getting more aggressive. Frankly it’s because President Trump’s sanctions that he’s ratcheted up against Iran already to try to bring them back to the table and ultimately to dismantle the nuclear weapons program which is what Barack Obama should have done instead of giving them the keys to a nuclear weapon in 10 years. It’s I think having a real big impact and so you’ve seen him lash out at the world but just think about this I mean this is one more example why you don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. This is how how they are. They’ve been the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism throughout the world and they continue to attack our friends around the world. And here’s one more example of why they need to be stopped.

Guy Benson: Congressman back on the home front let’s talk about there’s some rumors OK and there’s. I saw the Daily Caller had a document. There’s a good deal of confusion about what’s actually going on involving the White House’s position on guns background checks Second Amendment. The president is open to increased background checks he’s also wary about sort of eroding it all Second Amendment rights. The White House has said the document that’s been floating around on social media is not a White House document it kind of feels like it might be a trial balloon. The Democrats have their bill that they’ve passed out of the House they’re pressuring the White House heavily on that. Where do things stand. Have you gotten. Have House Republicans in the leadership gotten an actual policy yet from President Trump.

Rep. Scalise:  Guy I have not gotten anything formal from the president. I did get to meet with the president last week and we talked about a number of things including guns and I think my my strong opinions on the Second Amendment I’ve been clear and I am very concerned about the direction Speaker Pelosi has tried to go and the fact I voted against the bill that Speaker Pelosi is promoting because it is a grab on gun rights for law abiding citizens. In fact it would go up to a 20 day waiting period for some people to buy a gun. It would make it illegal for most people to transfer their guns to to loan a gun to a friend. I mean you might want a loan you’re you’re hunting on or maybe you’ve got a friend who she’s afraid for her life and she wants to borrow your gun to protect herself and you to go to jail for up to a year under Pelosi’s bill. And so that’s that’s to me a real dangerous approach at grabbing our guns. And by the way Pelosi’s bill would not have done anything to stop the El Paso or Dayton shooting. And so you know when you get into these discussions just keep in mind that a lot of the Democrats are promoting these bills do want to ultimately get to a place where a law abiding citizen shouldn’t have the right to have a gun in their home. They don’t agree with the Heller decision that came out of the Supreme Court 5 4 a few years ago.

Guy Benson: So on that point about tightening up some of the at least background checks there was a recent mass shooting where it turned out that the shooter had been denied the ability to buy a gun because of background checks and then he sort of exploited what people would call a loophole and did a private transfer. Is there a way to make sure something like that cannot happen without infringing on the types of scenarios that you just laid out.

Rep. Scalise:  Well get in a lot of these cases we’ve seen that that people whether they had criminal backgrounds that the state didn’t get set into a background check system we address that by the way with the Fix NICS bill that we did pass and Donald Trump signed into law and that was focused on solving real problems that we saw like in Sutherland Springs and then Charleston even in the Parkland shooting that kid should have never been able to buy a gun in fact the FBI had social media spots where he was saying he wanted to be a professional school shooter and for whatever reason they chose not to do anything about that. And then he went on and and . Sure enough he followed through.

Guy Benson :  Congressman just respectfully just to jump in I. The points that you’re making I think are completely valid. I’m just saying the example in Odessa where you had that 36 year old shooter in that sense the existing system worked. They flagged him he wasn’t allowed to buy a gun and then he went into this very narrow gray area where he was able to circumvent the background check process. And that’s I think where some Americans are concerned the vast majority of these mass shootings that’s not the case. But here is a recent example where it is and I’m just wondering is there any type of legislation that would satisfy I think even what the president’s talking about clamping down on someone like that not being able to exploit the system without punishing people who are not threats to anyone or law abiding. I think that’s the that’s the legislative challenge

Rep. Scalise:  I understand and inland Let’s see number one let’s see if our laws were followed or if other laws were violated in that case. But go look at where Pelosi is and even where you’ve seen Chuck Schumer they’ve not said that they want to specifically even go into those kind of instances they said that the the minimum the minimum was H.R. 1 that came out of the house. And please go read that bill because I read it. I voted against it because it goes way beyond any of the things that you mentioned. And that’s the kind of goalpost that Pelosi is moving right now is she’s saying it’s got to have those kind of provisions which go to the heart of stopping law abiding citizens are making a lot harder for law abiding citizens to own a gun to buy a gun to transfer a gun to a friend. And let’s I mean if you’re in a rural area and you want to loan your hunting rifle to a friend of yours too you really have to go drive 45 minutes down. Good luck on a find a gun dealer paying whatever fee you’re going gonna have to pay. Drive back and then maybe not no one if you’re going to be in violation of a federal law. This this isn’t the approach we ought to be taken. Let’s look at let’s look at closing the loopholes that have already been identified that are out there where existing law should have covered things that existing law didn’t deal with and what law enforcement agencies like the FBI dropped the ball. And by the way who who has been held accountable at the FBI for what happened at Parkland I’ve yet to hear one person being held accountable for all the people that were involved in that case file that two different times they were given they were given this kid’s name saying he’s going to be a school shooter and both times they chose not to pursue it.

Guy Benson:  Congressman last question is on this same topic. I think anything that resembles a national gun registry in the context of a background check is going to be a particularly hard sell for a lot of Americans these days because Democrats have shifted some of them from saying no no we never want to take your guns away too openly calling for confiscation including your former colleague Beto O’Rourke big cheers at that last debate.

Guy Benson:  Some of the other candidates running for president agreeing with him once the confiscation conversation begins.

Guy Benson: Then all sorts of other potential solutions or compromises are viewed I think with a lot more suspicion.

Rep. Scalise: Guy Beto made it very clear to the American people where he and a lot of these other liberals that were on that stage are that are gonna be running for president when all those people and the radical left started applauding when Beto said that he wants to come and take your guns. There are millions more people across the country who were shivering at the thought that that’s where a major party in this country wants to go. You didn’t hear one person on that stage say well wait a minute I don’t want to take your guns. They were all there while allowing that to go because that’s where ultimately they want to go. And it’s scary it’s scary to think that that’s where they are as a party but you know at least we’re getting to see it. And that’s why these debates I think are helpful I hope that more of them.

Guy Benson: Yes. It’s not a slippery slope conspiracy. When they are setting up the slip and slide and greasing it down on national television. I’m here.

Rep. Scalise: These are the people who are going to define what an assault weapon is and you know it was it was automatic weapons and then those got banned and then it’s this weapon and that weapon and then the law. The list gets longer. And next thing you know they don’t know what they will tell you. Ask him how they believe how they think the Heller case should have gone. A lot of them don’t think that you should be able to own a gun in your home.

Guy Benson:  Joe Biden even said that he’s one of the you know relative moderates out there. It was wrongly decided. That was a big moment. Congressman Steve Scalise the Republican whip in the House of Louisiana. Always a pleasure Steve Good luck to your Tigers the rest of the way.

Rep. Scalise:  It’s always good to be with you Go Tigers.

Guy Benson: Absolutely we’ll talk to you soon and we’re just getting started on the guide Benson show today. Stay with us we’ll be right back.