Congressional Republicans are "out of step" with most Americans on expanding gun background checks, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told
Newsmax TV on Friday.
"The American people would support increased background checks," Gonzales, now dean of the Belmont University College of Law in Nashville, Tenn., told "The Hard Line" host John Bachman. "I, for one, believe that it is appropriate to increase a number of transactions that are subject to background checks."
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But Gonzales cautioned that "I would only support increasing the number of transactions subject to background checks if we can assure ourselves that the data in the database is accurate and complete — and we can assure ourselves that the information will not be used by the federal government for any other purpose.
"This is one area where I think there is common ground," he said.
The former prosecutor disagreed with President Barack Obama's call for stricter gun laws in light of the shootings this week in Dallas, Baton Rouge and just outside St. Paul in Minnesota.
"What we need is emphasizing responsible gun ownership, and we need to ensure that the database that we have to do background checks is accurate and complete as possible," Gonzales reiterated. "There are things that we can do — and should do, quite frankly — but, honestly, gun control is not the answer ultimately to some of these senseless killings."
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