Sen. Risch: I'm certain "background check system doesn't work"

(CBS News) Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho is one of the 14 senators promising a filibuster on Thursday to block a vote on tighter gun laws. Senator Risch told "CBS This Morning" that the likely ability of Democrats to block the filibuster is "disappointing" but added that, "No one really expected that we wouldn't get to a vote on this. There's going to be a debate, which is a good thing."

And while the families of several victims of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting are on Capitol Hill this week to push lawmakers to pass tighter gun laws, Risch said he has not yet met with them.

"I haven't had any of them come by my office," he explained. "Certainly if they do come by my office, I will meet with them."

"I'm a father, I'm a grandfather. I watched as all of America did in horror at what happened in Newtown ... all of us would like to be able to do something to help those people."

The senator maintains that the focus of the gun legislation debate is misguided, and said "one of the problems we have here is that this debate now is focusing on expanding a background checks system that simply does not work and casts a burden on people exercising a constitutional right. I think everybody has to accept that this is a constitutional right."

Risch offered examples he believes back up the claim that the background checks system is broken, citing "the atrocities that were committed at Virginia tech" and "the atrocities that were committed in Connecticut" as incidents carried out with guns that went through a background check process, and insisted "what we know for certain is that the background check system doesn't work."