Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, said on Sunday that he agreed with the NRA's push to prevent the mentally ill and unstable from obtaining weapons. But he said that legislation should be part of a comprehensive expansion of the current background check system.
"I would love to work with leadership of NRA to make sure we get those records in the system," Kelly said on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace.
Kelly pointed to the man who shot his wife, Giffords, more than two years ago. Jared Loughner, Kelly said, couldn't have bought a gun if his mental illness were in the system.
"They absolutely have a point. They are right on that issue," Kelly said of the NRA.
But Kelly cautioned that it would be a mistake for any gun legislation that moves through Congress to not contain an expansion of background checks on private transactions, which the NRA opposes. Kelly pointed to polls that continually show universal background checks with support from 80 to 90 percent of Americans.
Kelly dismissed an alternative Republican bill being floated by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, which doesn't include such background checks.
"Any bill that doesn’t include a universal background check is a mistake," Kelly said.
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