Joe Manchin Lets Mask Slip: ‘Due Process Is Killing Us’

During the June 16 airing of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, gun control Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) let his mask slip by expressing frustration that due process is preventing the pursuit of more gun control.

Manchin made a name for himself by opposing the NRA and pushing new gun controls for law-abiding citizens in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He spent months pushing for an expansion of background checks, even though he admitted the checks would not have prevented the Sandy Hook tragedy.

During his Thursday appearance on Morning Joe, Manchin pushed for more gun control via terror watchlists and other such mechanisms, but said due process stands in the way.

Manchin talked about his hopes that there could be bipartisan support for gun control, then said:

The problem that we have, and really the firewall that we have right now, is due process. It’s all due process. So we can all say we want the same thing, but how do we get there? … The shooter in Orlando was brought in twice by the FBI. They did everything they could … but there was no way for them to keep him on the NICS list or keep him off the gun buy list. So can’t we say if a person’s under suspicion there should be a five-year period that we have to see good behavior [before they can buy a gun]? Maybe we can come to that kind of agreement. But due process is what’s killing us right now.

Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele was on the show and asked what Manchin plans to do for people who already own guns but “may appear on the list” in the future? Manchin talked about honoring the Second Amendment right to own a gun, then suggested a confiscation mechanism to take guns away from people who come under suspicion.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.