Tipsheet

Trey Gowdy Responds to New Calls For Gun Control: Prove to Me the Laws We Have Are Being Fully Enforced, Then We'll Talk

As the drum beat for new gun control laws continues to get louder on Capitol Hill, former prosecutor and Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Trey Gowdy is taking a different approach to the situation. 

During an interview with Fox News Dana Perino this week, Gowdy called on gun control proponents to verify that the slew of laws already on the books are being fully enforced before the government piles on new legislation or regulation. 

"We already have controls on what kind of guns you can have, where you can have them, when you can use them and what individuals can possess even a single bullet. So the question to me is whether or not current controls are adequate and there are two fundamental questions that you should put your finger on," Gowdy said. "What law had it existed at the time would have prevented this mass killing or another mass killing. What law, but for its lack of implementation could have prevented this. That's one question. The other question is, among all the panoply of current gun laws, how are we doing enfocing them?"

Gowdy added that DOJ statistics show few prosecutions for a number of gun laws already on the books. 

"I was really underwhelmed at the level of prosecution over the last eight years," Gowdy said. 

Under the Obama administration, prosecutions of those who violated federal gun laws plummeted by 25 percent. Prosecutions of these crimes are up under the direction of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.