Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic governor of Virginia, called for stricter gun-ownership laws soon after the shooting in Alexandria Wednesday morning at a baseball practice that wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others.
Asked at a press conference about what he believed could be done to protect politicians, McAuliffe said, “Let me say this: I think we need to do more to protect all of our citizens. I have long advocated — this is not what today is about — but there are too many guns on the street. We lose 93 million Americans a day to gun violence.”
He later clarified that he intended to say 93 Americans a day, not 93 million. He also mentioned challenges around background checks and loopholes at gun shows.
While adding that the topic is “not for today’s discussion,” he also said it wasn’t inappropriate to bring up. He elaborated, “I talk about this every single day. This is a very serious issue.”
