GOP primary challenger Joe Walsh says he 'a big gun guy' and that 'the numbers' on gun violence have been good the past few decades

• Republican presidential candidate Joe Walsh lauded gun rights on Tuesday night at Business Insider's GOP debate, saying "I'm a big gun guy."
• "The numbers are all good" over the last four decades, Walsh said, referring to the amount of gun violence in America. 
• Efforts to tighten gun laws, however, has gained traction with more Americans after a recent spate of mass shootings in Texas and Ohio over the summer.
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Republican presidential candidate Joe Walsh lauded gun rights on Tuesday night at Business Insider's GOP debate, saying "I'm a big gun guy."

Walsh went on: "I believe in the Second Amendment, plain and simple. There's no silver bullet to this issue."

"Crimes with guns, murders with guns, the numbers are all good over the last 30 to 40 years," Walsh said, referring to the amount of gun violence in America. Walsh acknowledged that mass shootings have been a problem recently.

Read more: Here's the House gun control legislation Mitch McConnell refuses to take up in the Senate after the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton

Walsh called for universal background checks at the debate.

Efforts to tighten gun laws have gained traction with broader swaths of Americans after a recent spate of mass shootings in Texas and Ohio over the summer. A recent PBS NewsHour, NPR, and Marist poll found more Americans back universal background checks and banning the sale of high-capacity magazines.

SEE ALSO: How to stop shootings in America: 10 strategies proposed to stop gun violence, and how likely they are to work

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