Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, reaffirmed his firm belief on Thursday that much of President Barack Obama’s gun control proposals “can get done” in Congress.
Castro, a long term supporter of the Castle Doctrine—which provides that someone attacked in his home can use deadly force—showed his support for Obama’s gun control plans as well.
“Texas is a state that very much respects the Second Amendment, I supported concealed carry when the Castle doctrine came up. I supported the Castle doctrine but I think that most Texans also believe that we can make reforms that will make us all safer out in society,” Castro told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “I support the president’s plan to reform gun safety and gun control policy but we know that it’s going to be a very heavy lift in Congress, but I think much of what he’s proposing —perhaps not all of it—can get done.”
Mitchell asked Castro whether he felt the proposals for universal background checks and an assault weapons ban were reasonable and the Texas congressman quickly agreed.
“I think most Americans support that [background checks] here and also a limit on high capacity magazines and also the assault weapons,” Castro said on Andrea Mitchell Reports. “I’ve said many times before that we don’t begrudge anybody that wants to have a handgun in their home to protect themselves or their family members but there’s no reason to have guns out there on the street that can literally kill ten people in two seconds.”
He quickly mentioned that the use of high powered guns in society was just “too much” and he could attest that “most Americans would agree with that.”
Since he’s a freshman congressman, Mitchell also mentioned two other topics that might become the focus of Castro’s term—immigration reform and the upcoming debt ceiling debate.
Mitchell talked about Sen. Marco Rubio’s immigration proposal, which outlines a citizenship path for illegal immigrants already in the United States. Castro applauded Rubio’s efforts, calling citizenship for Dreamers “essential” and emphasizing better guidelines for legalization.
“You can have everything from a guest worker program to residency to full-fledged citizenship and I think that will be the real debate in Congress in the coming year,” Castro said.
Castro also expressed his optimism concerning bipartisanship and the debt ceiling.
“I hope to be part of a freshmen class and a group of folks in Congress who can deal with this issue responsibly and who can take care of the nation’s finances and fiscal situation without creating more self-inflicted wounds,” Castro said. “We know that last time we went through this, it hurt the stock market substantially; it hurt our bond ratings. We don’t need to go through that again.”
Castro feels confident that Congress can reach an agreement to prevent more hardships on the American people.
Cathy Finkler