Background Checks Quotes

• Should we have background checks, waiting periods? To drive a car you have to pass a test that shows you know how to drive your car safely, you should have to do the same thing with guns.

  Michael D. Barnes

  Gun, Should Have, Car

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• There should be a background check every time a firearm is transferred. You shouldn't be able to go to a gun show and buy guns without a background check. There are Internet gun sales, classified ads in the newspapers - and you can buy guns without background checks.

  Michael D. Barnes

  Gun, Able, Internet

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• We think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone.

  Wayne LaPierre

  Thinking, Gun, Criminals

  "Meet the Press" with Chuck Todd, www.nbcnews.com. January 30, 2014.

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• I believe law-abiding citizens ought to be able to own a gun. I believe in background checks at gun shows or anywhere to make sure that guns don't get in the hands of people that shouldn't have them.

  George W. Bush

  Believe, Gun, Hands

  George W. Bush at the third Presidential Debate in Tempe, Arizona, www.cnn.com. October 14, 2004.

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• Ninety percent of people support background checks. Which means even people who can't pass a background check support background checks.

  Bill Maher

  Mean, People, Support

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• When it comes to the issue of background checks, let's be honest - background checks will never be 'universal' - because criminals will never submit to them.

  Wayne LaPierre

  Issues, Criminals, Honest

  "NRA: More Gun Control Not A Serious Proposal" by Christina Wilkie, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 29, 2013.

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• The first thing is we got to make sure we try to keep guns out of the wrong hands. And I want comprehensive background checks.

  Hillary Clinton

  Gun, Hands, Trying

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

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• Honestly this is not going to change unless the people who want to prevent these kinds of mass shootings from taking place feel at least as passionate, at least as mobilized and well-funded as the NRA and the gun manufacturers are because the politics in Congress are such where even members of Congress who know better are fearful if they vote their conscience and support common sense measures like background checks, they're worried they're going to lose.

  Barack Obama

  Gun, Mass Shootings, People

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• When I think about what we need to do, we have 33,000 people a year who die from guns. I think we need comprehensive background checks, need to close the online loophole, close the gun show loophole. There's other matters that I think are sensible that are the kind of reforms that would make a difference that are not in any way conflicting with the Second Amendment.

  Hillary Clinton

  Gun, Thinking, Years

  Source: www.christianpost.com

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• What I put forward was an amendment that would have temporarily halted immigration from high-risk terrorist countries, but would have started it up, but I wanted them to go through Global Entry, which is a program where we do background checks.

  Ted Cruz

  Country, Risk, Immigration

  Source: cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com

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• I respect the Second Amendment. But I believe there should be comprehensive background checks, and we should close the gun show loophole, and close the online loophole.

  Hillary Clinton

  Believe, Gun, Second Amendment

  "Transcript of the Second Debate". www.nytimes.com. October 10, 2016.

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• Doing a background check is still a very manual process, because the government agencies that create the records are largely paper-based systems. I'm not going to deny that there are errors, because in any system that involves human beings or technology, there are going to be errors.

  James Lee

  Technology, Errors, Agency

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• Then they show up at the door and the reality is that they are 5-foot-8, 240 pounds and have not run a mile in years. A background check is not going to help you with that.

  Charlene Li

  Running, Reality, Doors

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• Right now - and this is something Donald [Trump] has supported, along with the gun lobby - right now, we've got too many military- style weapons on the streets. In a lot of places, our police are outgunned. We need comprehensive background checks, and we need to keep guns out of the hands of those who will do harm.

  Hillary Clinton

  Military, Gun, Hands

  Source: time.com

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• Making improvements to our background check system and cracking down on illegal gun trafficking are common-sense ways to prevent violence without punishing law abiding gun owners. We owe it to the American people to take real action to reduce gun violence in our communities.

  Martin Heinrich

  Real, Gun, Law

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• The information hack contains facts discovered by the FBI in doing background checks for people seeking positions with the federal government. It's a treasure trove which can easily be used for blackmail and other reasons by the enemy.

  Donald Trump

  Government, People, Enemy

  "CNN Newsroom" with Carol Costello, www.cnn.com. October 3, 2016.

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• If [lawmakers] lose elections in part because of their votes on the background-check bill or their position on the terror gap bill, then there will be a rethinking of this issue within the Republican conference.

  Chris Murphy

  Issues, Bills, Gaps

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• One of the most troubling aspects of the Rubio-Schumer Gang of Eight Bill was that it gave President [Barack] Obama blanket authority to admit refugees, including Syrian refugees without mandating any background checks whatsoever. Now we've seen what happened in San Bernardino. When you are letting people in, when the FBI can't vet them, it puts American citizens at risk.

  Ted Cruz

  Eight, People, Risk

  Republican Presidential Debate, www.nytimes.com. December 15, 2015.

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• This week the White House proposed fingerprinting and photographing foreign visitors so they can do background checks. Officials in Saudi Arabia said this will only increase anti-American feelings in the Mideast. Is that possible? Gee, you hate to have people dislike us for no reason. Things were going so well.

  Jay Leno

  Hate, White, People

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• I come from a state that has virtually no gun control. And yet, at political peril, I voted for an instant background check, which I want to see strengthened and expanded. I voted to ban certain types of assault weapons which are designed only to kill people.

  Bernie Sanders

  Gun, Assault Weapons, People

  Source: www.nbcnews.com

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• Cameras are dangerous. With no waiting period or background check, any whack-job could just stroll into a Wal-Mart and walk out with a semi-automatic. Now, for years I've been pressing for stricter regulations on cameras, especially around our elected officials. Too many political lives have been cut short by some crazed shooter.

  Stephen Colbert

  Jobs, Cutting, Years

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• I would like to save lives. Now you know, the gun lobby will say, "You can't stop everybody." And I would agree with that: You can't stop everybody. Isn't it worth stopping as many as possible, saving as many lives as we can? And I think comprehensive background checks and trying to keep guns outta the wrong hands would help us do that.

  Hillary Clinton

  Thinking, Gun, Hands

  "ranscript: Clinton talks Orlando, Sanders, campaign with Telemundo". Interview With José Díaz-Balart, thehill.com. June 14, 2016.

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• Non-crazy gun advocates - the ones who aren't stockpiling in preparation for a zombie invasion - don't like the idea of expanding background checks because they think it'll be a lot more paperwork. And it probably would make it more difficult to sell guns at, say, a flea market.

  Gail Collins

  Crazy, Gun, Thinking

  "Guns, Guns, Guns". Interview with David Brooks, opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com. April 3, 2013.

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• Every gun sold should require a background check, period.

  Gary Ackerman

  Gun, Checks, Should

  "Third gun control bill proposed since Tucson shootings" by Sahil Kapur, www.rawstory.com. January 13, 2011.

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• To end the crisis [of gun violence], we have to regulate -or, in the case of handguns and assault weapons, completely ban -the product. We are far past the [point] where registration, licensing, safety training, background checks, or waiting periods will have much effect on firearms violence.

  Josh Sugarmann

  Past, Gun, Assault Weapons

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