The Senate has failed for years to advance "common sense" gun legislation that could close a loophole that allows guns to be sold to people who should not have them, Sen. Joe Manchin said Wednesday.
"First of all, it's not gun control," the West Virginia Democrat told Fox News'
"Fox and Friends" program. "When you do the background checks, if there's a loophole, if you've been mentally adjudicated, you're insane, you shouldn't go to the gun show because of the loophole."
At such shows, said Manchin, "you can go to the one table and buy anything you want. You shouldn't be able to go on the internet [and buy a gun]. Seventy-eight percent of all Americans agree with that, but we can't get that common sense piece of legislation."
And that, said Manchin, makes no sense to him, even though he noted that opponents are concerned about taking away the rights of people who have been wrongly accused.
"I think all of us can agree that if you're on a no-fly list, should you be on the no-buy list? If we suspect you could do harm to America or Americans, you shouldn't be able to fly on the airplane."
However, in the case of the Orlando shootings, which have brought the issue of gun control to the forefront again, shooter Omar Mateen, a licensed security guard, was legally able to purchase the weapons he used in the massacre at the Pulse Nightclub, even though the FBI had questioned him twice in the past on suspicion of terrorism leanings.
"People want to see some common sense rational movement," said Manchin. "We're not getting anything."
Also on the program, Manchin defended President Barack Obama's refusal to use the terms "radical Islam" when discussing terrorism, and his angry speech on Tuesday when he lambasted the phrase as a "political talking point."
"Basically the president is who he is," said Manchin. "He's methodical, very thoughtful when he speaks, he doesn't get emotional."
And Manchin, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that the group has not talked about using the words as a strategy, but still, he does not know a Muslim "in West Virginia or a Muslim anywhere in the country that doesn't believe that these people are radical, if they have been radicalized to the point they want to kill innocent people."
Further, he pointed out, "we have had radical Christians, we have had people go into churches, Christians, and kill people," and if he were president, he'd use the term "in a heartbeat."
However, Obama has given his reasons why does not use the term, Manchin said.