By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- The National Rifle Association's executive vice president
continued to oppose background checks for all gun purchases despite
polls indicating that most NRA members don't share his position.
The
NRA's Wayne LaPierre said on "FOX News Sunday" that background checks
for all gun purchases would lead to a national registry of gun owners.
Critics say such a registry could lead to taxes on guns or to
confiscation.
Mark Kelly, a gun owner and
husband of Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who
survived a 2011 shooting, asked LaPierre to listen to his members. He
said the current system prevented 1.7 million gun purchases since 1999.
However, those potential buyers had other options because many gun sales
don't require a background check.
"Members of the NRA tend to be very reasonable on this issue," Kelly said, who also appeared on the FOX show.
As
Congress responds to the spate of mass shootings in recent years, most
notably the December massacre of 20 children and six adults in a school
in Newtown, Conn., some are calling for a ban on certain semi-automatic
weapons and on high-capacity ammunition magazines. However, calls for
expanding background checks appear to have gained the most bipartisan
support.
LaPierre said that requiring checks for all gun purchases would be a bureaucratic nightmare.
"It's going to affect only the law-abiding people," he said. "Criminals could care less.
LaPierre
was pressed about his contention that gun checks would lead to a
national registry, when no one from the Obama administration is calling
for that.
"And Obamacare wasn't a tax until they needed it to be a tax," LaPierre said.
Kelly and LaPierre agreed on one point: More people seeking to buy guns illegally should be prosecuted.
"They should be prosecuted and there should be stiff penalties," Kelly said.
A
key player in the coming gun debate in Congress, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, said on ABC's "This Week" that he's willing to take a look
at legislation that would ban certain semi-automatic weapons, but he
also noted that he voted against a ban on such weapons in 1994 because
it "didn't make sense."
He was more definitive
on the issue of background checks, saying "everyone acknowledges we
should do something with background checks."
Reid
said his goal is for the Judiciary Committee to report out a gun bill.
Senators could subsequently seek amendments on the Senate floor. That
way, if the bill didn't contain certain provisions, such as the ban on
certain weapons, then sponsors would at least get a vote on their
proposal and lawmakers would have to go on the record about where they
stand.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press modified.
