Larry King Live
John Ashcroft Discusses His New Job as Attorney General
Aired February 7, 2001 - 9:00 p.m. ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE
UPDATED.
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, an exclusive conversation with Attorney General John Ashcroft.
It's his first interview since the bitter fight over his nomination, and it comes just hours after a
shooting outside the White House. It's next, on LARRY KING LIVE.
General Ashcroft, always good to welcome you to LARRY KING LIVE. It's many appearances,
but now first time as a general.
(LAUGHTER)
What can you tell us -- any aftermath of today's incident? Anything you know now?
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I'm grateful that no one
was killed. I'm grateful that they were able to take the individual who was the offender into
custody without having to lose his life, and certainly, as much traffic and as much population
as is in that setting, to be able to apprehend him and to disarm him without the loss of life is
commendable, and I'm just grateful for that.
Obviously, there are a lot of questions to be answered, and there is a lot of -- a lot of -- a lot of
the story is now being unfolded. If you really want to know this, watch CNN.
KING: It reduces the chance, though, of opening up Pennsylvania Avenue again, doesn't it?
JOHN ASHCROFT: Oh, I think it elevates for us the concern that always exists in a free culture
and free society, that someone will go in the wrong direction.
KING: Which brings us right to one area. You've had a long history with regard to guns and gun
control, and now you're attorney general. And this was a gun. And a gun could have been
used. Any thoughts?
JOHN ASHCROFT: Well, obviously, guns are dangerous, and they are a big problem. Gun
violence in the country is a big problem, and the way we know that we can reduce gun
violence is to prosecute gun violence energetically. We have seen gun laws proliferate, and
we have seen gun violence continue to go up.
As a matter of fact, during the last eight years we saw gun prosecutions, though, go down by
46 percent while we were passing more gun laws. I think what the real key is, and I want to
emphasize this if I get a chance and I believe I will have that chance as attorney general, to
emphasize that we're going to take a hard line on people who use guns in the commission of
crime.
You go to Richmond, Virginia where they have what's called Project Exile. Basically, say if you
use a gun in the commission of a crime, we're going to stack the penalties against you as hard
as we can. In implementing that program in the U.S. Attorney's office there, they cut the murder
rate by about 42 percent in the first year, and the law enforcement officials said that they cut
the use of guns in the commission of crimes by about 50 percent.
Even when I was in the Senate, I was kind of seeing this project and working toward
implementing it in other settings, and I think we'll want to do that across the country.
KING: Do you agree, general, with the laws being made very tough as possible to get a gun?
JOHN ASHCROFT: Well, I think that we've got enough laws on the books. I think what we need
is tougher enforcement. It's pretty clear...
KING: On both sides, getting and using?
JOHN ASHCROFT: .. well, for people who buy guns illegally, they ought to be -- or acquire guns
against the law, and you know, it's against the law for felons to have guns, and a wide variety
of regulations exist, but for illegal use of a gun in the commission of a crime and for illegal
possession of a gun, those crimes need to be prosecuted.
Law-abiding citizens have a right under our Constitution to have firearms. But there is no
reason for us to look the other way when people who misuse them commit crimes. We should
nail them.
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0102/07/lkl.00.html
John Ashcroft Discusses His New Job as Attorney General
Aired February 7, 2001 - 9:00 p.m. ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE
UPDATED.
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, an exclusive conversation with Attorney General John Ashcroft.
It's his first interview since the bitter fight over his nomination, and it comes just hours after a
shooting outside the White House. It's next, on LARRY KING LIVE.
General Ashcroft, always good to welcome you to LARRY KING LIVE. It's many appearances,
but now first time as a general.
(LAUGHTER)
What can you tell us -- any aftermath of today's incident? Anything you know now?
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I'm grateful that no one
was killed. I'm grateful that they were able to take the individual who was the offender into
custody without having to lose his life, and certainly, as much traffic and as much population
as is in that setting, to be able to apprehend him and to disarm him without the loss of life is
commendable, and I'm just grateful for that.
Obviously, there are a lot of questions to be answered, and there is a lot of -- a lot of -- a lot of
the story is now being unfolded. If you really want to know this, watch CNN.
KING: It reduces the chance, though, of opening up Pennsylvania Avenue again, doesn't it?
JOHN ASHCROFT: Oh, I think it elevates for us the concern that always exists in a free culture
and free society, that someone will go in the wrong direction.
KING: Which brings us right to one area. You've had a long history with regard to guns and gun
control, and now you're attorney general. And this was a gun. And a gun could have been
used. Any thoughts?
JOHN ASHCROFT: Well, obviously, guns are dangerous, and they are a big problem. Gun
violence in the country is a big problem, and the way we know that we can reduce gun
violence is to prosecute gun violence energetically. We have seen gun laws proliferate, and
we have seen gun violence continue to go up.
As a matter of fact, during the last eight years we saw gun prosecutions, though, go down by
46 percent while we were passing more gun laws. I think what the real key is, and I want to
emphasize this if I get a chance and I believe I will have that chance as attorney general, to
emphasize that we're going to take a hard line on people who use guns in the commission of
crime.
You go to Richmond, Virginia where they have what's called Project Exile. Basically, say if you
use a gun in the commission of a crime, we're going to stack the penalties against you as hard
as we can. In implementing that program in the U.S. Attorney's office there, they cut the murder
rate by about 42 percent in the first year, and the law enforcement officials said that they cut
the use of guns in the commission of crimes by about 50 percent.
Even when I was in the Senate, I was kind of seeing this project and working toward
implementing it in other settings, and I think we'll want to do that across the country.
KING: Do you agree, general, with the laws being made very tough as possible to get a gun?
JOHN ASHCROFT: Well, I think that we've got enough laws on the books. I think what we need
is tougher enforcement. It's pretty clear...
KING: On both sides, getting and using?
JOHN ASHCROFT: .. well, for people who buy guns illegally, they ought to be -- or acquire guns
against the law, and you know, it's against the law for felons to have guns, and a wide variety
of regulations exist, but for illegal use of a gun in the commission of a crime and for illegal
possession of a gun, those crimes need to be prosecuted.
Law-abiding citizens have a right under our Constitution to have firearms. But there is no
reason for us to look the other way when people who misuse them commit crimes. We should
nail them.
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0102/07/lkl.00.html