Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says there is 'very little we can do' to stop shootings

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly says he has "no idea" whether more background checks for gun purchases would make people safer.

"I have not seen in the circumstances they have described guns were obtained, but if they were done lawfully, it already seems we have a process and if someone chooses to break the law, there's very little we can do besides arrest them after they've committed the act," said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. 

The comments from Vos come as Democrats in Washington and Madison call for enhanced gun control legislation in the wake of the Boulder shooting.

"The idea that we can't do anything and that we can't do anything for unfounded reasons, you know, is absurd," said State Representative Gordon Hintz. 

Wisconsin Democrats have long pushed for expanding background checks and other measures designed to reduce gun violence, but Republicans have blocked them.