CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- One of the people watching President Obama deliver his plan to tighten up the laws regarding background checks was Malcolm Graham.
Gun violence touched the former North Carolina Senator in the most dramatic way seven months ago when his sister was gunned down at Mother Emanuel AME Zion Church in Charleston.
Cynthia Hurd, 55, was one of nine people murdered in the mass shooting.
President Obama got emotional when he talked about his executive action; Graham has seen that side of the President before when he met with the Charleston families privately.
"So I saw that raw emotion from him then and I saw it again today," said Graham.
He fully supports the President, and says the 2nd Amendment is not absolute and there are restrictions.
"I'm here to tell you it's deeply personal for many Americans throughout this country who are victims of senseless gun violence on a mass killing perspective."
Graham understands that a lot of people will be cynical, but he notes that one of the reasons that Dylann Roof, the suspect in the Charleston killings, was able to get his gun is because his background check was not performed quickly enough.
"The perpetrator in the Charleston shooting got his gun because they didn't have time to process his application. Three days passed so he automatically qualified for the gun. If we had more individuals in place to process that application, maybe he would not have gotten that gun," said Graham.
Part of the President's proposal includes the hiring of extra ATF and FBI agents to conduct background checks.
