(Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

(CNSNews.com) – Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes” on Tuesday that his plan to end gun violence by requiring a federal gun license is “absolutely” constitutional even with the court’s jurisprudence.



“There's really interesting polling on gun control right now, gun safety measures that are showing higher levels of support than there have been for a while, and one thing jumped out at me was from Quinnipiac poll. Do you support requiring a license to purchase a gun? 82%, which it's a very polarized country. You don't get a lot of 82 percent. That's part of your campaign platform. What do you think of that number?” Hayes asked.





“First of all, when we came out on this, a number of people in the democratic field took potshots at me calling for licensing. It is something that works. It is evidence-based. Connecticut did it. Shootings dropped 45%. Suicides dropped 15%. It is common sense. Someone who needs to drive a car. Shouldn't you be licensed to buy and possess a firearm?” Booker said.



Asked if his plan is constitutional even with the court’s jurisprudence, the senator said, “I absolutely think so.”



“Most people, we have restrictions on our First Amendment rights - common sense restrictions like this. Law-abiding citizens have nothing to worry about purchasing a gun. This will dramatically stop the ability for people who want to do horrendous things to get weapons,” Booker said.



Hayes said he didn’t know how many votes are in the Senate to support required federal gun licensing. He projected there could be 30 votes in favor of it in the chamber, and he said there is a gap between what the public is saying to pollsters and “what the institutions of our various political leadership views as the frontier of the possible.”



Booker shared his perspective as “the one guy in the Senate that lives in a neighborhood where people get shot.” He recalled the murder of Shahad Smith, a man Booker knew who previously lived above him in the Brick Towers housing development in Newark, N.J., who was gunned down in March 2018.