2016 FactCheck: on Gun Control


Bernie Sanders: FactCheck: No, never supported by National Rifle Association

Hillary Clinton said about Bernie Sanders, "in his own book, he talks about his 1990 campaign, and here's what he said: He clearly was helped by the NRA, because they ran ads against his opponent." Is that true? We dug up the relevant section of Sanders' book:

"In 1988, the NRA had supported [my Republican opponent Peter] Smith and had opposed me [partly because] I supported a ban on certain types of assault weapons. A few months after taking office, Smith suddenly announced that he would vote FOR the ban on assault weapons. The NRA was furious at his about-face. While the NRA has never endorsed me or given me a nickel, their efforts against Smith in 1988 clearly helped my candidacy."So Hillary is TECHNICALLY accurate, but Bernie was only "helped" by the NRA campaigning against his opponent, and not for him--because he opposed the NRA's desired stance too! And Bernie was never financially supported by the NRA at all!

Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck: 2016 Dem. primary debate in Brooklyn Apr 15, 2016

Hillary Clinton: FactCheck: 33,000 gun deaths includes suicides & accidents

Hillary Clinton asserted, "90 people a day die from gun violence in our country. That's 33,000 people a year." Is that true? We checked and found that her statement was technically true but misleading.

The federal CDC publishes statistics on causes of death for all Americans. Here are the figures from their 2013 update:

So Secretary Clinton is technically correct about her figures. The misleading aspect is that voters interpret "death from gun violence" as "murder". Self-inflicted and accidentally-inflicted deaths should not count in a political discussion about restricting firearms (or at least, should be counted differently). Clinton chose to use the misleading statistic because it is more persuasive than saying "11,000 deaths from intentional gun violence against others". We rate Clinton's statement as "true but misleading."
Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on 2016 NBC Democratic debate Jan 17, 2016

  • The above quotations are from Fact-checking on 2016 presidential, gubernatorial, and Senate campaigns.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Gun Control.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
2016 Presidential contenders on Gun Control:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Dec 08, 2018