Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) said Tuesday on CNN’s “New Day” that there could be a bipartisan agreement in the Senate to raise the age limit for “AR-15 assault-style” guns from 18 to 21.
When asked about members of the Senate meeting on gun safety legislation, Hutchinson said, “I think you’ve got to be able to talk about the AR-15-style weapons and whether that’s an 18 or 21 age. You have to at least have a conversation about that. That’s tough because the challenge with the gun safety discussion is what makes a difference? And whenever you look at what might make a difference, it’s hard to come up with a solution. And that’s why you cannot just simply focus on a gun safety discussion. It’s got to also be about investment in higher levels of school safety.
He added, “Now, it didn’t work very well in Uvalde, but they didn’t follow the guidebook either, what it appears to be. And — and so, that’s an extraordinary tragedy that’s driving the discussion today, as it should. But I hope that the senators — first of all, I applaud them for meeting together. As a governor, America wants to see, in a bipartisan way, this kind of discussion going on, looking for solutions that make a difference. I hope to be able to mirror that as a governor. And that we can have a bipartisan working group of governors also looking at this issue and how we can do better for our children.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN