Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly gave some credit to President Obama on Tuesday, after he announced that he would be taking executive action to implement more gun control measures.
On his show, O’Reilly said that every person who buys a gun in the U.S. should be subject to a federal background check.
“The FBI should background check anyone buying a firearm in America. That just makes sense,” he said. “If you are paranoid and believe the government is stockpiling information so they can come to your house and take your guns, that’s your problem.”
O’Reilly said that the government has an “obligation” to enhance public safety. But at the same time, he said the president, even in light of a series of mass shootings over the past few years, is exaggerating the gun violence problem.
“Mr. Obama is obviously sincere in his quest for more public safety but he is missing the big picture,” he said. He cited the number of gun-related crimes in relation to the U.S. population at large to assert that there is not a gun “epidemic.”
O’Reilly said that gun registration requirements would have no impact, and called for harsher federal sentencing in violent gun-related crimes.
Obama announced earlier in the day that he’s issuing an executive action aimed at requiring background checks regardless of how or where people buy guns, and preventing smaller gun sellers from registering as dealers.
