several times even since then. and i m a gun owner. and i think gun owners and nongun owners alike are saying there are steps you be take. universal background checks, a vast majority of even nra members believe we ought to do that. but on that point you significantly changed your position. it was a few years ago your second bid for governor not only did you not support universal background checks you said this in your gubernatorial debates. my eight years in public service our second amendment recognizes have been actually expanded in montana, not limited. i brought montana to the united states supreme court in that decision that actually recognized our second amendment as an individual right. the nra calls me courageous. the nra called me courageous. now, you also said i never abandon common sense. but do you standby those statements, or what do you say to those who look at that and say has he changed his position on guns, you know, for political expediency? sure.
the point where gun owners got to be calling on the nra and this president, mitch mcconnell to take some real meaningful steps. the vast majority of gun owners, the vast majority of nra members think universal background checks make perfect sense. and from that perspective, at some point we ve got to recognize, like, when i was young the nra was gun safety. it was a hunting and shooting organization. now it s now not more than a dark field money organization to use guns and culture to try to split this country apart. and we re better than that. i m tired of lowering flags for mass shootings. i m tired of these times like we have after these last two shootings. i mean, i have lowered the flags nine times since the vegas shooting alone, seven times since parkland. and i think that folks are just gun owners and nongun owners alike, they don t want their kids to be unsafe in big community events like this. so it s time to take action. disb steve bullock at the
pose as danger to themselves or somebody else, they re stopped before it s too late. and what i found in each one of those 254 counties is democrats and independents and republicans, gun owners and nongun owners alike agreed. but this effort must be led by the young people that you referenced at the beginning of this issue, those students from margie stoneman douglas led the charge here in florida, and they ve been able to change those laws. they re making our democracy work, ensuring that our values and our interests and our priorities are reflected in the laws that we pass. thank you, congressman o rourke. hang on. let me give 30 seconds, senator klobuchar, iron range, i m curious. gun confiscation. if the government is buying back, how do you not have that conversation? that s not confiscation. you could give them the offer to buy back their gun. i will say this. i look at these proposals and say does this hurt my uncle dick and his deer stand, coming from a proud hunting and fi
stalking their girlfriend, they shouldn t buy a weapon. if someone is on a terrorist no-fly list, they shouldn t be able to go and buy a weapon. there s so much wide berth of which nongun owners agree. the problem is the corporate gun lobby has too much of a handle on politicians that are trying to block common sense. it s a time in america when people died, we changed laws. when four girls died in a church in birmingham, we changed laws. when women were throwing themselves out windows at the factory fire, we changed laws and conditions. people have slaughters in a concert in las vegas. we do nothing. people are slaughtered in orlando, we do nothing. children shot, child-by-child,
lot of gun related bills. a public health issue would say how can we actually make sure that everybody can stay safe? and gun owners and nongun owners want people to be able to stay safe. universal background checks. you ve changed on that, correct? i have changed on that. and why? you know, it happens when you know, four of the times i ve been asked to lower the flags is due to mass shootings. when i dropped off my sixth grader, my youngest, his first week in a new school they learned where you need to go if an active shooting occurs. no sixth grader should have to look at that. looking at if you can take the politics out of it what would make a difference. i think universal background checks would make a difference, i think red flag laws as an example where you could remove a gun in a household where domestic violence and other things would make a difference. and i think that we re finally at this point where we have to have a much greater conversation