Jones: They’re voters, for sure. But I’ve told people in my campaign, “Don’t expect me to pass a litmus test for one side or the other.” I continue to get asked, “Are you liberal, conservative, moderate, progressive, what?” And I say, “Don’t label me! I’m Doug, and I’m going to vote the way I feel. I’m certainly not going to pass the far left’s litmus test any more than I’m going to pass the far right’s litmus tests.

I think there are some common-sense approaches that we can take. I think that we’re beginning to see people find some common ground on background checks, tightening that up. I think we’re going to see some things separate from the gun issue with school safety itself. If we can just throw a little cold water on everybody and say, “Wait a minute now, let’s just talk!” And I’m not talking about those kids in Parkland who lost their friends and their teachers, because they speak out of emotion, and they should.

But those of us in public policy don’t need to be accusing people. We don’t need to be screaming at people. We don’t need to be taking the NRA’s approach and accusing the media of wanting these massacres because it’s good for ratings. We don’t need to be taking the far left’s approach that we have to ban all these guns. We just need to talk and find the common ground, because I believe that the more steps you take, the more common ground that you can find, then everybody can be satisfied, and we can maybe do some positive good for the country.
Read the full interview.