GOP governor scraps pro-Second Amendment portion of his website, calls on Congress to 'wake up

Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) removed a pro-Second Amendment section from his political website Sunday after he called on Congress to enact stricter gun laws during an interview on CNN's "State of the Union."

"We should look at bump stocks that make weapons fully automatic. I was talking to a friend of mine this morning," the governor said. "He's a big collector. I said, 'If all of a sudden, you couldn't buy an AR-15, what would you lose? Would you feel as though your Second Amendment rights would be eroded because you couldn't buy a God-darn AR-15?'"

The former presidential candidate, who has long touted himself as a Second Amendment supporter, first expressed his change of heart in an op-ed published Nov. 12, following the massacres in Las Vegas in October, and Sutherland Springs, Texas, in November.

What did the pro-Second Amendment section of the site say?

Kasich's political site featured photos and text touting his stance to defend the rights of gun owners, according to Ohio public radio journalist Karen Kasler.

"[A]s governor, [Kasich] has signed every pro-2nd amendment bill that has crossed his desk to defend this basic, constitutional right. John Kasich is a gun owner himself, and in his 2014 re-election was endorsed by the National Rifle Association for his support of the Second Amendment as an inviolate part of our Constitution," the section read.

It went on to say he enacted legislation protecting the privacy of concealed handgun owners and allowing for reciprocity licenses with other states where permit holders can carry their guns.

And it talked about Kasich's opposition to then-President Barack Obama's gun control executive orders: "The Second Amendment is too important and Obama's hostility is too well known for him to go around Congress and undermine the Second Amendment."

What did Kasich say on CNN?

Kasich called Congress "totally dysfunctional" and said it's time for them to "wake up."

He said "politicians have not been responding" to the shootings and he "doesn't have any confidence in them" to do so now.

"Where we have to effect this, I believe, is at the local level and the statehouse, because you can have greater access to politicians who serve in the state legislature, in — a county commissioner, in a city council," Kasich said.

He went to add that lawmakers in Ohio are "looking at everything, full background checks, including casual sales," and the terms surrounding people with mental illness and their ability to purchase firearms. Casual sales are those made by someone who isn't in the firearm's selling business.

Kasich claimed he still supports the Second Amendment but added that there may need to be limits placed on it.

"If you're a strong Second Amendment person, you need to — you need to slow down and take a look at reasonable things that can be done to answer these young people," Kasich said, referring to Florida high school students who are demanding action on gun control.

Then he called on President Donald Trump to "take some steps now" toward "common sense" reform.