Hickenlooper: ‘Why Not Have Universal Background Checks For All Gun Sales’

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Responding to the mass shooting of the past year, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) called for an examination of the nation’s gun laws during his State of the State Address Thursday. 

“We shouldn’t be restrained from discussing any of these issues,” he said of the guns debate, according to the Denver Post. “Our democracy demands this type of debate. Let me prime the pump: Why not have universal background checks for all gun sales?”

“Let’s examine our laws and make the changes needed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” Hickenlooper said.

Hickenlooper also called for an overhaul of the state’s mental health system. “We ask you to pass legislation that will update civil commitment laws, make it easier to identify people with mental illness who are a danger to themselves and others and provide safer, more humane systems for their treatment,” he said.

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