NBC's Guthrie Pushes Gun Control in Interview With Husband of Gabrielle Giffords

At the end of a Friday interview with Mark Kelly, former astronaut and husband of former Congresswoman Gabrille Giffords, Today co-host Savannah Guthrie made sure to bring up the favorite liberal talking point of the need for more gun control: "...you gave a stinging rebuke in your statement to political leaders who haven't done anything about gun control....What do you hope will change? And are you expecting President Obama to do something about gun control in a second term?"

Kelly avoided putting the President on hook: "I don't expect him to in the beginning part of his second term. But, you know...we have a Congress that can address it as well." He then argued: "...it's obviously a problem. I mean, we have gun violence that happens time and time again in this country. And I think almost everybody would agree that we have a problem....repeatedly we lost the opportunity and I hope somebody, you know, picks up that mantle and tries to do something about it." Guthrie agreed: "Well, this obviously underscores the need for the issue to be addressed in some way."

Here is a transcript of the November 9 exchange:

7:20AM ET

(...)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And before I let you go, you gave a stinging rebuke in your statement to political leaders who haven't done anything about gun control. You and Gabby are gun owners and supporters of the Second Amendment. What do you hope will change? And are you expecting President Obama to do something about gun control in a second term?

MARK KELLY: You know, I don't know if he's – if he's going to address that. He certainly – I don't expect him to in the beginning part of his second term. But, you know, we have – you know, we have a Congress that can address it as well. We've got state legislatures, governors. You know, this is obviously – it's obviously a problem. I mean, we have gun violence that happens time and time again in this country. And I think almost everybody would agree that we have a problem. And we've got very smart people and we've got committed legislators, you know, that can work on the issue and it should – it should be worked on. I think, you know, repeatedly we lost the opportunity and I hope somebody, you know, picks up that mantle and tries to do something about it.

GUTHRIE: Well, this obviously underscores the need for the issue to be addressed in some way. Mark Kelly, thank you so much.

KELLY: Thank you for having me on the show, Savannah.

GUTHRIE: Appreciate it.