July 26th, 2012

Rep. Rogers (R-MI): Gun control not the problem

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) discusses the Aurora shooting, explains why he is opposed to gun control legislation and weighs in on Mitt Romney’s foreign policy plans.

Rep. Rogers says, “Trying to point to one incident and one type of weapon isn’t going to solve this problem. Matter of fact, it was against the law to have a weapon in the movie theater. Colorado has very strict gun laws. So, we have two things here. How do we get after the violent crime that’s happening in American cities today – a huge rise. And how do you deal with mentally ill individuals who are expressing themselves that they’re going to commit this crime…. You want to intercede with the mentally ill early in that treatment and allow counselors to talk to police when they’re making those kind of threats.”

When O’Brien asks why not challenge gun laws, too, and not sell AR-15s, Rep. Roger responds, “That’s not what killed those individuals in the movie theater. That weapon didn’t even function correctly, so that’s the trick. And that’s what I think is dangerous about saying this type of weapon we don’t like. If we focus all of our energy on that, the problem will go away. That’s not the problem. He was determined to kill people. And he had plenty of weapons on him when he walked into that movie theater….”

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs weekday mornings from 7-9am ET on CNN.