House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) seemed to be endorsing universal background checks during an interview on CNN’s “The Lead” Wednesday before his office quickly clarified that he does not support new legislation.
“They should actually do a real background check on everyone,” Boehner said. “And they — the Department of Justice ought to enforce the law. Then laws are being violated every day; there’s no prosecutions coming out of the Department of Justice.”
He continued: “And laws don’t mean much if they’re not going to be enforced. We’ve got plenty of laws on the books. Let’s go and enforce them before we just load up more laws on law-abiding citizens. Criminals don’t respect the law. It will have no effect on them.”
His office then clarified that his remarks did not constitute support for expanding background checks.
Boehner on guns: They should do a background check on everybody. Office clarifies — he supports laws currently in place.
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) March 20, 2013