Piers Morgan visits Texas and speaks with Attorney General Greg Abbot

In an ongoing effort showcasing the issue of guns in America, Piers Morgan, a British talk show host for CNN, visited a Texas gun store and sat down with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to talk about universal background checks, limiting ammunition in magazine clips and the Texas border.

Presented along with the banner of “Piers in Gun Country." The video, posted today on his CNN website and aired last night, highlights three minutes of the discussion with Attorney General Abbott.

Per the Attorney General, “Current background checks are not working." When asked about background checks being performed at gun shows and between individual sellers, the AG uses the example of a situation in which he is selling a gun to a friend. He rhetorically asks, “Should I have to run a background check on my friend that I have known for more than a decade, just because I want to sell him a pistol?”

Abbott: Meet force with forceAbbott: Meet force with force

With regard to actions that need to be taken to curb gun violence, the Attorney General continued:

“We need to enforce the laws and take measures to crack down on violence, to help those with mental challenges, to put the criminals behind bars and prevent criminals from getting guns in the first place”

When asked if he is in favor of limiting the amount of ammunition a magazine can hold, Attorney General Abbott states “absolutely not” and continues to offer up the example of the Texas border: “we have drug cartel members who have shot bullets at law enforcement.”

Mr. Morgan requests several times for Attorney General Abbot to provide exact numbers on attacks by drug cartel members. Mr. Abbot states he cannot give those numbers off-hand, but he continues “if they [drug cartels] are so brazen that they are going to shoot at law enforcement officers, then innocent ranchers have to be fearful and these ranchers may be hundreds of miles from law enforcement…they deserve to have the ability to meet force with force."

Mr. Morgan’s television show, “Piers Morgan Tonight” airs on CNN every weeknight at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific (8 p.m. for Central time zones).