Jon Huntsman: Coming from 'cultures of guns' helped to generate policy ideas with Manchin

On This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, the host sat with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Huntsman, former presidential candidate and governor of Utah, to discuss the group No Labels, which purports to be a "movement of Democrats, Republicans and everything in between dedicated to the politics of problem-solving. We stand united behind a simple proposition: we want our government to stop fighting and start fixing," according to its website.

The two are the organization's honorary co-chairs.

According to an ABC News transcript, Manchin said that in his two years so far in the Senate, he had not heard of one bipartisan meeting "where Republicans and Democrats in the Senate sat down and worked through their problems" and that "we don't even know our colleagues over in the House. No Labels gives us that venue."

Stephanopoulos said that the group's website showcases no discussion of guns despite the renewed discussion of gun control after the massacre in Newtown, Conn., which he called a "pretty conspicuous in its absence. Is that a punt?"

"Well, this is not about finding the endpoint for a specific policy issue. This is about creating a pathway that speaks to problem solving," Huntsman said.

"You can't do anything about problem solving unless you get a group of people together on Capitol Hill who are dedicated to putting country first and making decisions that are right for the future as opposed to the next election," he went on.

He said later that he and Manchin have "been shooting since we were 5 or 6 years old. We come from cultures of guns, Utah and West Virginia. And within five minutes, we put together some -- some ideas that probably would represent a good compromise package between Republicans and Democrats."

[Image via AFP]