Gov. Mark Dayton said Friday that he's open to policy changes aimed at preventing mass shootings like what happened a day earlier in Oregon, but that he's yet to see federal or state legislative changes that would be effective at doing so.
"I think there's too many guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them, but how do you keep the wrong people from getting their hands on guns?" Dayton said. "No one's come up with an answer to that. If they do, I'm all ears."
Dayton has supported a proposed change to Minnesota law that would require people who buy weapons at gun shows be subject to a background check, as is now the case with purchases at gun stores. But he said he doubted such a move would prevent future mass shootings.
In the latest incident, at least nine people were killed and seven injured in Thursday's shooting at a community college in rural Oregon. The 26-year-old shooter was killed in a shootout with police. President Obama responded with a plea to federal and state leaders that they take concrete steps to prevent what's become a depressingly common occurrence.
"I don't think closing a gun show loophole is going to put an end to that, although it's the right thing to do," Dayton said. "If the president has something he thinks is going to make a significant difference at the national level, he should say what that is."
