Obama: You Shouldn't Be Able To 'Just Walk Into A Store And Buy A Semi-Automatic'

On June 26 President Obama held a Minnesota town hall in which he outlined his continued push for “basic, common sense” gun control which includes “background checks so you can’t just walk into a store and buy a semi-automatic.”

WhiteHouse.gov posted a video of the town hall in which Obama responded to a question about “[reducing] gun violence in this nation.”

Here is part of his response:

This is the only advanced country that tolerates something like this. We have, what’s basically a mass shooting, it seems like happening once every couple of weeks: kids on college campuses, kids at home. And we’re not going to be able to eliminate all of that violence, and there’s a strong tradition of gun ownership, wonderful folks who are sportsmen and hunters, and I respect all that. But we should be able to take some basic, common sense steps that are, by the way, supported by most responsible gun owners. Like having background checks so you can’t just walk into a store and buy a semi-automatic.

There was a small applause when Obama mentioned the need for background checks to keep people from just walking into a store to buy a semi-automatic. The problem with this statement is we have had background checks to keep people from just walking into a store to buy a semi-automatic since 1993. 

Semi-automatic or not, you have to go through a background check for every retail firearm purchase.

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