Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), who led the National Rifle Association’s school safety task force, said Sunday that the background check system in place has been “effective” at preventing criminals and the mentally-ill from obtaining guns, a position at odds with the NRA’s argument that the current system is ineffective.
“Well, if you take those statistics at face value, then the current system in place has been effective in blocking people who are not entitled to obtain a firearm from getting one,” Hutchinson said on “Fox News Sunday,” responding to the fact that 1.9 million people have been prohibited from buying a firearm under the current background check system. “So that’s effective.”
Hutchinson went on to explain that despite being effective, he personally believes the universal background check bill being proposed in the Senate places to great a burden on Americans who want to engage in private gun sales.
“As a practical matter, and I read the bill last night, if you’re a farmer 30 miles from town and you want to transfer a shotgun to a neighbor, you’ve gotta go 30 miles into town, find a federal licensed firearm dealer, fill out the paperwork, pay the fee, have the background check,” Hutchinson said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And then you have a responsibility to keep those records for inspection by the government. And that’s a huge burden on citizens.”
