Reporter Challenges VA Gov on Whether He Knows if Shooter’s Gun Was Illegal

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe was challenged by a reporter for pushing for gun control in the hours following the shooting of two WDBJ journalists without knowing if it could have prevented the murders.

McAuliffe repeated many of the same points that he made in an earlier radio interview, including a call for more background checks. “I’m trying to bring common sense ideas. As I say, I’m a hunter, I’m a gun owner, I go through background checks.”

“There are individuals in this country who should not be allowed to own a firearm,” he said. “And it’s just to me common sense and tragic, that this kind of legislation cannot be passed and signed into law.”

But one reporter quizzed McAuliffe on the specifics of the murder. “Governor, do we know that he is not a permit holder?” asked a reporter. “Do we know that he has a criminal background where he would not be allowed to have a gun?”

“I don’t know anything,” McAuliffe admitted. “I don’t. At this stage, I don’t.”

Watch, via Fox News:

[Image via screengrab]
——
>>Follow Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!