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Andrew Yang on Gun Control
Democratic Presidential Challenger & Tech CEO
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Personalize guns so only the owner can fire it
Q: Has gun violence reached epidemic proportions?YANG: My younger son's school had active shooter drills. And he's four years old. I tried to find studies that said that active shooter drills make our kids safer, and I could not find any evidence
that they do. I then tried to find evidence that the shooter drills make our kids anxious, stressed out and confused, and I found a whole stack.
Q: What about getting common-sense gun legislation passed?
YANG: I want to offer every gun owner in the
country a complimentary personalization upgrade, where only they can fire the gun based upon their palm print and the size of their hand. This way, if the gun gets, let's say, taken by their kid, then it's useless, because they can't fire it. And if you
are a gun owner, you actually, kind of, like this personalization upgrade because it makes your gun cooler. It's like a James Bond personalization. You can, like, show your friends and be like, "Only I can fire this." But it also makes us all safer.
Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary
, Feb 5, 2020
Break stranglehold of NRA on Congress
We need to attack the gun violence problem at every level, from our families, our schools, our mental health infrastructure, the supply of guns. But you're 100 percent right it needs to start at the top.
We need to break the stranglehold of the NRA on our legislators and get them to vote along with the will of the American people.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race
, Feb 5, 2020
Helping young males find their path will reduce gun violence
Q: What would you do about white supremacist violence?YANG: First, we have to designate white supremacist terrorism as domestic terrorism so the Department of Justice can measure it. We have to create paths forward for men who are falling through
the cracks. When you look at gun violence, 96 percent-plus of the shooters are boys and young men. We have to find ways to turn our boys into healthy, strong young men who do not hate, but instead feel like they have paths forward in today's economy.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
, Nov 20, 2019
Would push for "personalized" guns, subsidize upgrading
Yang would push for Americans to upgrade their firearms to "personalized" guns. These types of firearms use technology such as fingerprint readers or other biometric sensors to prevent unauthorized users from firing them. "If we can convince
Americans that personalized guns are a good idea then ... if the child gets ahold of the gun then they can't do anything with it," he said. "One of my proposals is to help gun owners upgrade their guns to personalized guns free of charge."
Source: Huffington Post on 2019 Democratic primary
, Aug 11, 2019
Help gun owners "personalize" guns free of charge
"You're more likely to have a child or the owner get shot than to kill an intruder into the house." The answer to the problem would be to have "personalized" guns that prevent anybody but the owner from firing the weapon. "If we can convince Americans
that personalized guns are a good idea then--if the child gets ahold of the gun then they can't do anything with it," he said. "One of my proposals is to help gun owners upgrade their guns to personalized guns free of charge."
Source: Slate.com on 2020 Democratic primary
, Aug 11, 2019
Voluntary buyback, plus high-capacity magazine ban
Andrew Yang on Assault Weapons: Support a voluntary buyback program.FIVE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Steve Bullock; Peter Buttigieg; Julian Castro; Beto O`Rourke; Tim Ryan.
Andrew Yang calls for the implementation of "a federal buyback program
for anyone who wants to voluntarily give up their firearm." Yang stops short of a blanket assault-weapons ban, instead proposing a three-tiered licensing system for gun ownership. Under that system, first-tier licensees must pass a federal background
check. Owners of semi-automatic rifles (second-tier weapons) must be at least 21 years old and pass an advanced firearm safety class. Owners of advanced and automatic weaponry (third-tier weapons) must submit their fingerprints and DNA to the
FBI, submit to a gun locker inspection and undergo yearly refresher firearm training. Yang also calls for a ban on "high-capacity magazines."
Source: Politico "2020Dems on the Issues"
, Jul 17, 2019
Future without handguns is not reality
Q: In an ideal world, would anyone own handguns?
A: "Talking about a future where no one owns a handgun is, frankly, not going to match up with reality."
Source: 2019 "Meet the Candidates" (NY Times.com)
, Jun 18, 2019
In the future, people will still own handguns
Democrats have largely converged on a moderate, consensus view of gun control; we wanted to get at a deeper question of values--so we asked "In an ideal world, would anyone own handguns?" Some answers:- Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend IN.: "I
respect the desire of people to have a means of self-defense."
- Andrew Yang, Former tech executive: "Talking about a future where no one owns a handgun is, frankly, not going to match up with reality."
- Marianne Williamson, Self-help author: "I am
not for messing with the Bill of Rights."
- Eric Swalwell, Congressman from CA: "I have no problem with people owning handguns."
- John Delaney, Former congressman from MD: "We don't live in an ideal world. We live in a country where we have the
Second Amendment, which I support."
- Tim Ryan, Congressman from OH: "I believe that law-abiding citizens do have the right to protect themselves."
- Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman from Hawaii: "I support our Second Amendment rights."
Source: 2019 "Meet the Candidates" (NY Times.com)
, Jun 18, 2019
Treat guns the way we treat motor vehicles
I think that we should treat guns in a very similar way to the way we treat motor vehicles, where you have to get licensed and tested because vehicles can kill people, and firearms do the same thing. And we should be having
federal background checks around mental illness and criminal records and domestic violence. In parallel, I would invest in a massive mental health initiative, to address some of these incidents of gun violence before they happen.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Apr 14, 2019
Three-tier gun licensing for common-sense safety
Most Americans agree on common-sense safety requirements and restrictions on firearms. As President, I will...- Promote a stringent, tiered licensing system for gun ownership (think a CDL vs. a regular driver's license):
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All tiers: Pass a federal background check, eliminating the gun show loophole.
- Tier 1--Basic hunting rifles and handguns: Provide a receipt for an appropriately-sized gun locker, or trigger lock per registered gun.
- Tier 2--Semi-automatic rifles:
Have a Tier 1 license for at least 1 year; Pass an advanced firearm safety class.
- Tier 3--Advanced and automatic weaponry: Ban high-capacity magazines; Require submission of fingerprints and DNA to the FBI
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Those who currently own any firearms will be grandfathered in with their current license, and for the 1-year requirement if they decide to apply for a Tier 2 license.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Yang2020.com
, Mar 29, 2019
Make gun manufacturers liable for mass shootings
Yang has proposed holding gun manufacturers responsible for mass shootings by charging them $1 million per person killed in a public setting.
He also wants to raise the legal age of gun ownership from 18 to 21.
Source: Townhall.com: 2020 Democratic primary "Candidate profiles"
, Feb 6, 2019
Page last updated: Apr 29, 2021