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Current and former NRA members talk about what to do about mass shootings

Frank Luntz spoke to current and former NRA members about gun control in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting.
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Republican pollster Frank Luntz gathered a focus group of current and former NRA members in his California home to discuss the organization, gun regulations, and what the country needs to do to keep students safe in their schools.

After the Parkland shooting in Florida, which left 17 dead, there has been renewed scrutiny over gun laws in the United States, with many — including, most notably, the victims — pushing for stricter control.

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"These gun regulations are bogus," said one NRA member. “The problem is it's a cultural problem. How does that get solved? Values have to be reinstilled."

“I'm saying that there's certain guns that we shouldn't have,” another panelist said, adding that mental evaluations were essential.

Almost all panelists agreed on expanding background checks, though one maintained that those are no guarantee against a possible future attack. “You don’t know if somebody is mentally unstable until they do something,” he explained.

This segment originally aired Feb. 23, 2018, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.

UPDATE, June 1, 2021: VICE News produced a series of seven panels moderated by Frank Luntz from December 2017 to January 2019. Recently, it was reported that Luntz was on Ted Cruz’s reelection campaign payroll in 2018. VICE News was unaware of this affiliation, and Luntz did not disclose this information at the time of these productions.