O’Rourke explained his overnight change in position on gun licensing to reporters at a campaign stop in New London, N.H.
"As I've thought about it, I really think we should be looking at everything," O'Rourke said. "If it is not politically feasible today, that should not disqualify it from consideration. And so you ask between last night and today — just some time, some reflection, and a desire to better understand his proposal and to see how we can work together to save the lives of the people we care about in this country."
O'Rourke took a different tone less than 24 hours earlier.
“I come from, just like New Hampshire, a very proud gun-owning state," O'Rourke said Thursday night. "People who use firearms responsibly for hunting, for self-protection, for collection. And I think relying on the responsibility and accountability that gun owners feel — matching that with universal background checks, stopping the sales of weapons of war, red flag laws — that’s the perfect way to complement the responsible gun ownership we see in the country right now. ... I don’t know that we need to take the additional step of licensing every single firearm to every single owner."