Former astronaut Mark Kelly slammed the NRA on Saturday after the Las Vegas massacre, saying that the lobbying group he and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords founded would counter the powerful association with "reality and logic and data."
"We have a very powerful corporate interests," Kelly told CNN's Ana Cabrera, explaining why President Donald Trump said this week that gun control should not be discussed immediately after the attack. "The gun lobby does not want to talk about it.
"It is in their best interests not to have a discussion."
Kelly said that he and Giffords' group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, "communicate with people on real facts and not a manipulated set of facts that serves big-money interests around the country."
However, Kelly did acknowledge the National Rifle Association's call for "additional regulation" on bump-stock devices fitted to 12 of the 23 guns police found in Stephen Paddock's hotel room as "a big break."
"But we have to give the ATF the resources it needs to do their jobs," he told Cabrera, referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He added that buyers of multiple semi-automatic weapons should be required to report it to the ATF, as is done with handguns.
"Why is the more powerful weapon not reported to the AFT when you are trying to accumulate an arsenal?" Kelly asked.
"That should be the first line of defense from having idiots getting their hands on dangerous weapons.
"I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, and we can allow responsible people to buy firearms — and we can keep guns out of the hands of criminals."
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