Michael D. Barnes Quotes

It defies common sense that stores are fined for selling toy guns to children, but someone who isn't even allowed to board an airplane in this country can purchase as many real guns he wants with no questions asked.

If I were governor, and a bill came to my desk that provided for background checks at gun shows, I would sign that.

Background checks, waiting periods, reports of transfers, and access to mental health records have not stopped the legal sale of firearms to legitimate buyers.

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.

What it is basically, if you go to a gun show, and there's somebody out there in the parking lot, and they're getting out of their car, and they've got an A-15 on their shoulder, or... John Q. Public wants to sell a handgun or whatever, then there's no background check.

We need to digitize gun-sales records, mandate universal background checks, close gun-show loopholes and straw-man purchases, ban high-capacity magazines, and push for a comprehensive assault weapons ban with an extensive buyback system.

We need to ban assault weapons. We need to ban the high-capacity clips and magazines. We need serious background information, system upgrade.

Our experience in Hawaii has shown that we can place common sense limits on gun sales, demonstrate our respect for gun owners, and, most importantly, help ensure the safety of our residents.

We should have a system of licensing and registration, we should treat firearms the same way that automobiles are treated so that people have to pass a safety test.

The Brady Act was passed in response to what Congress described as an 'epidemic of gun violence.'

Nothing in the opinion, should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash — for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything — without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you

If we are going to be serious about enforcing the law, we have to have a background record check system to make sure that people don't get weapons who shouldn't.

The number of people in America killed by firearms is extraordinary compared to other nations, and I don't think we're a bloodthirsty country. We need to look at everything we can do to safeguard our people.

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

The Gun Control Act of 1968 was an attempt to impose order. It set up the Federal Firearms License (FFL) system; gun stores would have to become licensed, and they would have to follow certain rules. Felons, illegal immigrants, and crazy people would be prohibited from buying guns.

We simply want gun legislation in this country that allows law-abiding citizens to still own guns or prevents people with a history of mental illness or a history of a criminal background from owning a firearm.

We must permanently reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban and the restrictions on high capacity magazines.

Background checks applied universally and nationally would take millions of illegal guns off the streets of our cities.

It is absolutely absurd that someone who is deemed unsafe to get on an airplane is allowed to buy a gun in America. It's truly absurd.

We need a comprehensive strategy that includes expanding criminal background checks for all commercial gun sales, dedicated federal law to combat gun trafficking, and a strong commitment to mental health services.

The Second Amendment is very important, but we have to have commonsense gun safety.

I do think gun control is important. I am a supporter of gun control.

Gun owners and non-gun owners alike agree on expanding background checks, making gun trafficking a serious crime with stiff penalties, making it illegal for all stalkers and all domestic abusers to buy guns, and expanding mental health resources so the mentally ill find it easier to receive treatment than to buy firearms.

Mexico has strict gun control. You cannot own a gun in Mexico.