Atty. Gen. Eric Holder says his 'single failure' was not enacting stricter gun laws

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder said in an interview Sunday that not enacting new gun safety laws following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 was "the single failure" of his time in office.

Visiting the site of the school shooting was the worst day he had during his more than six years as attorney general, he told MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry. Following the tragedy, the Senate attempted to enact stricter gun laws, including a broader requirement for background checks for gun purchases that was proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia and Republican Sen. Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.