Topics in the News: Mass Shooting
Joe Biden on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Nov 4, 2021)
Close loopholes in Federal gun background check system
Gun violence is a public health crisis. Every day, gun violence--community violence, domestic violence, suicides, and mass shootings--takes American lives and forever alters many more. Last year, we saw record levels of homicides in cities throughout
our country. The Federal gun background check system is a proven tool to reduce gun violence and save lives. This system, called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, has kept millions of guns out of potentially dangerous hands.
The Administration encourages closing existing loopholes in this system in two bills, H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, and H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021. The Administration looks forward to working with the
Congress to strengthen the Federal gun background check system and take other commonsense steps to reduce gun violence. [See details of H.R.8 / S.529]
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: White House press release by 2021 Biden Administration
Vladimir Putin on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control May 11, 2021)
School shooting leads to tightening of gun laws
Gunfire and explosions erupted at a school in central Russia on Tuesday, killing seven students and two school employees, according to witnesses and officials who blamed a teenager for the rare mass shooting in the country. Within hours,
President Vladimir V. Putin said he had ordered a tightening of Russia's already restrictive laws on civilian gun ownership, a move that is likely to be implemented in the country's top-down political system.
Click for Vladimir Putin on other issues.
Source: N.Y. Times on Foreign Influencers
Bernie Sanders on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Feb 7, 2020)
Changed views on gun control due to epidemic of gun violence
I lost a race for Congress, because in 1988 I said we should ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons. I am proud that today I have a D- voting record from the NRA. Under my administration it will be the American people doing gun policy, not the
NRA. In Vermont until the last two years ago, we had no gun control legislation and I represented that perspective. The world has changed. People are sickened by mass shootings and gun violence. The world has changed, and my views have changed.
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Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Elizabeth Warren on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Feb 5, 2020)
Lethality of guns makes more suicides & domestic violence
Q: What will you do to stop gun violence in our schools? WARREN: I think you have to ask a broader question here than simply our schools: we have a gun violence problem in America. And it has to do with mass shootings. We also have a gun violence
problem with suicide--the lethality of suicide attempts in America--because of the ready availability of guns. And we have a problem with women dying from domestic violence and the increased odds that a woman will die because she is in a house with
someone who is an abuser and there is also a gun available. There are studies right now that suggest a waiting period to be able to buy a gun reduces deaths by suicide by somewhere around 11%. We just need to keep working on it, studying, doing more.
In an America where more than 90% of Americans want to see us do background checks and get weapons of war off the street--90%, that's Democrats and Republicans and independents--we do nothing. And the United States Senate can't even get a vote.
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Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary
Joe Walsh on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Sep 24, 2019)
Federal background check at gun shows and online
Q: You're on record saying you would loosen gun restrictions. Do you have any plans to address gun violence?Walsh: I believe in the second Amendment, plain and simple. The problem we have now in this country is this are these mass shootings.
There are a lot of things we need to look at. And I am a big gun guy, but here's what our focus should be on. We don't want anybody who shouldn't have a gun to have a gun. When I leave here in about an hour if I go to a gun dealer down the street and
I want to buy a gun, I have to get a federal background check. It makes sense to me that if I buy that same gun at a gun show, I should have to undergo a federal background check. It makes the same sense to me that if I buy a gun online, I should have
to undergo the background check. It makes sense that if I buy that same gun from a friend across town I should have got a background check. I think that will help, but then we've got to really take a serious look at mental health issues in this country.
Click for Joe Walsh on other issues.
Source: Business Insider 2019 GOP presidential primary debate
Bernie Sanders on Mass Shooting:
(Government Reform Sep 12, 2019)
Keep filibuster and use other ways to pass laws
Q: Senator Warren, What can you get done on gun control?WARREN: The mass shootings are terrible, but they get all the headlines. We have a gun violence problem. The question is when 90 percent of Americans want to see us do background checks, want to
get assault weapons off the streets, why doesn't it happen? The answer is corruption. We have a Congress that is beholden to the gun industry. Unless we're willing to roll back the filibuster, we're not going to get anything done on guns.
Q: Senator Sanders, you've said if Donald Trump supports ending the filibuster, you should be nervous. Would you support ending the filibuster?
SANDERS: No. But what I would support is passing major legislation, the gun legislation,
Medicare for all, climate change legislation that saves the planet. I will not wait for 60 votes to make that happen, and you can do it in a variety of ways. You can do that through budget reconciliation law.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
Bernie Sanders on Mass Shooting:
(Government Reform Sep 12, 2019)
Keep filibuster and use other ways to pass laws
Q: Senator Warren, What can you get done on gun control?WARREN: The mass shootings are terrible, but they get all the headlines. We have a gun violence problem. The question is when 90 percent of Americans want to see us do background checks, want to
get assault weapons off the streets, why doesn't it happen? The answer is corruption. We have a Congress that is beholden to the gun industry. Unless we're willing to roll back the filibuster, we're not going to get anything done on guns.
Q: Senator Sanders, you've said if Donald Trump supports ending the filibuster, you should be nervous. Would you support ending the filibuster?
SANDERS: No. But what I would support is passing major legislation, the gun legislation,
Medicare for all, climate change legislation that saves the planet. I will not wait for 60 votes to make that happen, and you can do it in a variety of ways. You can do that through budget reconciliation law.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
Amy Klobuchar on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Sep 12, 2019)
Make sure that domestic abusers don't get AK47s
Q: You've often talked about your uncle and the proud hunters back home in Minnesota. So here do you stand on mandatory gun buybacks?KLOBUCHAR: Everyone up here favors an assault weapon ban.
Everyone up here favors magazine limitations, which, by the way, would have made a huge difference if that was in place in El Paso [in a recent mass shooting]. And certainly in Dayton, Ohio, where in
30 seconds, one man guns down innocent people. The cops got there in one minute, and it still wasn't enough to save those people. That's what unites us.
You know what else unites us? And I'll tell you this.
What unites us is that right now, on Mitch McConnell's desk, are three bills-universal background checks, closing the Charleston loophole, and passing my bill to make sure that domestic abusers don't get AK-47s.
Click for Amy Klobuchar on other issues.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
Amy Klobuchar on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Sep 12, 2019)
Banning assault weapons will reduce fatalities
Q: Where do you stand on mandatory gun buybacks?KLOBUCHAR: Everyone here favors an assault weapon ban. Everyone here favors magazine limitations, which, by the way, would have made a
huge difference if that was in place in El Paso [in a recent mass shooting]. And certainly in Dayton, Ohio, where in 30 seconds, one man guns down innocent people. The cops got there in one minute, and it still wasn't enough to save those people.
Click for Amy Klobuchar on other issues.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
Cory Booker on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Aug 11, 2019)
Yes on red flag law, but nowhere near enough
Q: Would you support a red flag law as a stand-alone bill? Isn't something better than nothing? BOOKER: Red flag laws, yes, they're important, but they're nowhere near enough to stop these rising levels of mass shootings. We have to do more.
The American public should demand more. And, frankly, things like background checks are overwhelmingly supported by gun owners. The fact that we're not doing that is a failure of leadership.
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Source: CNN State of the Union interview for 2019 Democratic primary
Julian Castro on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Aug 4, 2019)
The answer to mass shooting is not more guns
We need to enact common sense gun reform. This happened in Texas, where we have concealed carry, we have open carry, we have campus carry, we have one of the highest rates of gun ownership. That shooter knew that he was walking into a situation where a
lot of folks there could be carrying a weapon. That didn't stop him. The answer is not more guns. The answer is to make sure that these weapons of war don't get into the hands of people who go and use them on the street.
Click for Julian Castro on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week interview for Democratic 2020 Veepstakes
Michael Bennet on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Jul 17, 2019)
Support a ban on assault weapons
Bennet on Assault Weapons: Support a ban on assault weapons.NINE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Joseph Biden, Jr.; Cory Booker; John Delaney; Kirsten Gillibrand; Kamala Harris; Amy Klobuchar; Bernard Sanders; Elizabeth Warren; Marianne Williamson.
Sen. Michael Bennet said during a CNN town hall that he "would support" banning assault weapons, despite voting against the proposed Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
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Source: Politico "2020Dems on the Issues"
John Delaney on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Jul 17, 2019)
Ban assault weapons & all high-capacity accessories
Delaney on Assault Weapons: Support a ban on assault weapons.NINE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Michael Bennet; Joseph Biden, Jr.; Cory Booker; Kirsten Gillibrand; Kamala Harris; Amy Klobuchar; Bernard Sanders; Elizabeth Warren;
Marianne Williamson.
Sen. Michael Bennet said during a CNN town hall that he "would support" banning assault weapons, despite voting against the proposed Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Former Rep. John Delaney's campaign website calls for a ban on "semiautomatic weapons that have military-style features, including the
AR-15," as well as a ban on "high-capacity magazines" and "all accessories designed to increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic weapon, including bump stocks and trigger cranks."
Click for John Delaney on other issues.
Source: Politico "2020Dems on the Issues"
Julian Castro on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Jul 17, 2019)
Voluntary buyback, despite their mixed success
Julian Castro on Assault Weapons: Support a voluntary buyback program.FIVE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Steve Bullock; Peter Buttigieg; Beto O`Rourke; Tim Ryan; Andrew Yang.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian
Castro, as mayor of San Antonio in 2012, supported renewing the federal assault weapons ban following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Castro said during a CNN town hall that he supports "things like gun buybacks," adding: "I know that they have had mixed success, but
I believe that in some circumstances that's a good policy, and that we can recover some weapons that shouldn't be out there on the street."
Click for Julian Castro on other issues.
Source: Politico "2020Dems on the Issues"
Tim Ryan on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Jun 26, 2019)
We need mental health counseling to prevent mass shootings
Secretary Julian CASTRO: I am the dad of a 10-year-old girl, Carina. The worst thing is knowing that your child might be worried about what could happen at school, a place that's supposed to be safe.Rep. Tim RYAN: These kids are traumatized.
We need to start dealing with the trauma that our kids have.
We need trauma-based care in every school. 90% of the shooters come from the school they're in, and 73% of them feel shamed, traumatized, or bullied. We need to make sure that these kids feel connected to the school. That means a mental health
counselor in every single school. We need to start playing offense. If our kids are so traumatized that they're getting a gun and going into our schools, we're doing something wrong.
Click for Tim Ryan on other issues.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Eric Swalwell on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Apr 4, 2019)
After mass shootings, time to make gun control an issue
Swalwell will center his campaign on gun control. Helping him do that will be Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Swalwell has written about
being inspired by the youth movement in his call to ban all assault weapons. "We are doing a town hall in Parkland," he told me. "And I do believe that gun safety has to be a top 2020 issue."
Click for Eric Swalwell on other issues.
Source: The Atlantic, "Gun Safety," on 2020 Democratic primary
Andrew Yang on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Feb 6, 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.
Click for Andrew Yang on other issues.
Source: Townhall.com: 2020 Democratic primary "Candidate profiles"
Kirsten Gillibrand on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Nov 8, 2018)
Inaction on mass shootings due to greed of NRA & gunmakers
After the Thousand Oaks Shooting at a country music bar, Gillibrand said, "It is extraordinarily heartbreaking and it's infuriating because Congress literally has done nothing in the face of gun death after gun death in communities all across this
country. And it is because of the greed: the greed of the gun manufacturers and the greed of the NRA."Still, the pro-gun reform lawmaker offered some hope for future reform based on Tuesday's elections. "I do believe things are changing.
And the reason why I believe that is because we had candidates run in this last election who ran on this issue," she said.
Still, Gillibrand foresaw more work ahead of Democrats to pass stricter gun laws. "We have to obviously flip the
Senate to be able to do whatever the House could do, that common-sense reform," Gillibrand said. "But I think the country is in a place where we will fight this until we get it done because you need these basic reforms."
Click for Kirsten Gillibrand on other issues.
Source: Hollywood Reporter on 2018 New York Senate race
John Kasich on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Nov 6, 2018)
1999: Cool off after school shootings; 2018: time for action
BROKEN PROMISE: After the Columbine school shooting in 1999, Kasich recommended a "cooling-off period after high-profile acts of violence before trying to pass new laws." Until 2015, Kasich maintained the stance that more gun laws wouldn't
prevent mass shootings. But after a spate of school shootings and the student-led "March for our Lives" movement in 2018, Kasich yielded, calling for "common sense steps." Clearly, an "evolution" occurred. ANALYSIS: Kasich claims that
he only calls for "small steps" but he lists "background checks and increased attention to mental illness," which are typical first steps recommended by gun control advocates. Kasich also recommends executive action at the federal level, and action at
the state and local level-- methods reasonably likely to overcome NRA opposition. Kasich's evolution on this topic now qualifies him as a moderate on gun rights, where prior to 2018 he was hard-line for the Second Amendment.
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: John Kasich "Promises Broken," by Jesse Gordon
John Kasich on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Sep 18, 2018)
Learn from mass shooting tragedies and take action
John Kasich supports the Second Amendment and has signed multiple bills to protect gun rights. As a pragmatic conservative Governor Kasich also recognizes the need for common-sense solutions to our nation's problems. In recent years, our country has
been devastated by a dramatic increase in school shootings and mass killings--many with the use of semi-automatic weapons. Governor Kasich believes that we should not be afraid to learn from these tragedies and take appropriate action.
John Kasich has spoken out on the need for reasonable reforms to prevent future massacres--including the potential of expanding background checks on gun sales and limiting the ability to sell weapons that have often been used in mass killings.
The 2nd Amendment is one of the most divisive issues in our country. Leadership requires the willingness to tackle these issues and to find solutions. Our country and our children deserve that leadership.
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: 2020 presidential hopefuls: campaign website JohnKasich.com
Ron DeSantis on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Aug 31, 2018)
Allow carrying guns openly and on college campuses
DeSantis supports legislation to allow Floridians with concealed weapons permits to carry guns openly and on college campuses. Bills to allow both have failed in the GOP-controlled Legislature in the last three years.He has also criticized the gun
control measures in the bill passed by lawmakers in response to the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The legislation banned rifle sales to those under 21, prohibited bump stocks and placed a three-day waiting
period on all gun sales.
[Democratic gubernatorial opponent Andrew] Gillum called for a series of gun-control measures after the Parkland massacre, including a ban on assault weapons, limiting the size of magazines, banning armor-piercing bullets
and prohibiting guns to those with domestic violence felonies or misdemeanors. The National Rifle Association has given DeSantis an A- grade and Gillum an F.
Click for Ron DeSantis on other issues.
Source: Orlando Sentinel on 2018 Florida gubernatorial race
John Kasich on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Feb 18, 2018)
We need bipartisan gun reform to deal with mass shootings
Kasich's own public stances on guns have varied throughout his political career. Kasich supported the assault weapons ban in the 1990s and earned the ire of the National Rifle Association. As governor years later, he signed legislation supported
by gun rights advocates and touted his improved position with the NRA. Last year, legislation Kasich signed went into effect that expanded where people can carry concealed handguns to include willing colleges and day-care facilities.
But last November in an op-ed, Kasich called for a bipartisan approach to implement some kind of gun reform.
This week, he said Congress' history of inaction on the issue and the likelihood it will not address it in the wake of the recent high profile
mass shooting was just one sign of broad dysfunction, citing the immigration debate as another example. "Think about how bad it is in Congress," Kasich said. "They can't decide anything. They can't agree to anything down there."
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: Eli Watkins on CNN on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Bernie Sanders on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Feb 16, 2018)
Applaud students taking action to prevent school shootings
Shortly after the mass shooting that killed their friends and teachers, some brave students from Majority Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland came together to demand that government finally take action to prevent further shootings. Instead of
simply grieving the loss of their fellow students, they decided to stand up and fight back. They wondered, as well as we all wonder, how a 19-year-old youngster who was known to be at risk for violence could have legally purchased at least ten guns,
including a variant of an AK-47, the assault weapon he allegedly used. While there may not be any guaranteed answers as to how we end mass shootings, that does not mean that we should not be doing everything possible to prevent them. We need action.
While the American people are divided over various aspects of gun control, the more important truth is that there is now widespread & growing agreement on a variety of actions that would almost certainly lower the level of gun violence in this country.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: Where We Go From Here, by Bernie Sanders, p.143-4
Arvin Vohra on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Dec 12, 2017)
Remove all gun ownership restrictions
When we eliminate gun free school zones and remove all restrictions on gun ownership, we increase safety. Shootings happen when the shooter believes there are reasonable assurances that the victims will be unarmed. This is true of home invasions,
business robberies, and mass shootings. When we protect the right of all Americans to keep and bear arms, we create a reasonable assurance that any armed robbery or attempted mass shooting will almost certainly end in the death of the shooter.
Click for Arvin Vohra on other issues.
Source: 2018 Maryland Senate campaign website VoteVohra.com
Cory Booker on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Apr 1, 2017)
Failed to pass gun legislation after Orlando mass shooting
BROKEN PROMISE: Booker attempted and failed as senator to resolve conflicting promises: he promised to fight for gun restrict-ions, but also promised to collaborate with other senators on guns on "day one" (implying "priority"). That
forced a broken promise by self-contradiction. There are not enough anti-gun senators to make that a realistic promise on "day one." ANALYSIS: After mass shootings over past years, Senate Democrats introduced new gun legislation.
None passed. Booker pointed out that Congress failed to act "in the wake of Newtown," the 2012 mass shooting, when Booker was mayor. When Booker was Senator, the 2016 Orlando mass shooting occurred, and provided Booker an opportunity to "join with
others to make a difference," as he promised--that legislation failed too. Booker and Democrats are aware that they cannot pass gun restrictions nationally on "day one"--which is why they try only in the wake of mass shootings.
Click for Cory Booker on other issues.
Source: Cory Booker 'Promises Broken,' by Jesse Gordon, p. 17
Bernie Sanders on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Nov 15, 2016)
Intervene with mental illness, to prevent mass shootings
On October 5, 2015, after yet another mass shooting, I issued the following statement:In my view, there are very concrete steps we can take to lessen the number of tragedies and to make those that happen less lethal, including ideas supported by a
majority of gun owners:- We must strengthen and better enforce the instant background check system.
- We must close the gun-show loophole, which allows unlicensed dealers to sell guns to people who otherwise would not be able to get them.
-
We must make "straw man" purchases a federal crime.
- We must ban semiautomatic assault weapons, which are designed strictly for killing human beings.
-
We must recognize that our mental health system is seriously broken. It's past time for a serious discussion about identifying, intervening, and treating mental illness.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p.157
Amy Klobuchar on Mass Shooting:
(Foreign Policy Jun 12, 2016)
Fight ISIS Internet recruiting, but don't indict Islam
Q: Your reaction to news of a mass shooting in the "Pulse" nightclub in Florida?KLOBUCHAR: Having been the local prosecutor during 9/11 when they caught Moussaoui, in our state [Minnesota], I know that you want to make sure that you have the
evidence clear before you make statements about a solution. But we know some of the things that have to happen here. The continual work to root out this evil at its roots at the enclave of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, to stop the flow of the international
money, to go after the recruiting that we've seen in the US over the Internet.
Q: In Minnesota, there have been numerous cases about people being recruited to part of the ISIS campaign?
KLOBUCHAR: Yes; dozens of indictments & recent jury verdicts.
And what we've found is that individual people are recruited over the Internet. No mom wants their kid recruited to go fight for ISIS. You don't want to indict an entire religion, you don't want to indict an entire community over a lone wolf.
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Source: Fox News Sunday 2016: interviews for 2016 Veepstakes
John Hickenlooper on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control May 24, 2016)
Universal background checks for all gun sales
[After A 2012 mass shooting] I noted that our history of addressing difficult problems together made it possible to discuss gun violence and mental health. Not one or the other. Both. Then we got to it.
"Let me prime the pump:
Why not have universal background checks for all gun sales? . Surely, Second Amendment advocates and gun control supporters can find common ground in support of this proposition:
Let's examine our laws and make the changes needed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
"It's not enough to prevent dangerous people from getting weapons.
We have to do a better job of identifying and helping people who are a threat to themselves and others. That is why we are requesting your support for a comprehensive overhaul of our state's mental health system."
Click for John Hickenlooper on other issues.
Source: The Opposite of Woe, by John Hickenlooper, p.304-5
Donald Trump on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Jan 14, 2016)
Mass shootings are due to a huge mental health problem
Q [to Gov. Christie]: In light of the recent South Carolina shootings, what is the harm in tightening standards for not only who buys guns, but those who sell them?BUSH: We don't need to add new rules. We need to focus on what the bigger issue is:
we should focus on is the violence in our communities. The other issue is mental health. Why not begin to deal with the process of mental health issues so that people that are spiraling out of control because of mental health challenges don't have access
to guns.
TRUMP: What Jeb said is absolutely correct. We have a huge mental health problem in this country. We're closing hospitals, we're closing wards, we're closing so many because the states want to save money. We have to get back into looking
at what's causing it. The guns don't pull the trigger. It's the people that pull the trigger and we have to find out what is going on. You get the Congress. You get the Senate. You get together. You do legislation.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Fox Business 2016 Republican 2-tier debate
Hillary Clinton on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Oct 13, 2015)
Don't shield gun manufacturers from lawsuits:I vote that way
Q: For a decade, you said that holding gun manufacturers legally responsible for mass shootings is a bad idea. Now, you say you're reconsidering. Which is it: shield the gun companies from lawsuits or not?SANDERS: Bernie Sanders has a D-minus voting
rating from the NRA. Back in 1988, I told the gun owners of Vermont that I supported a ban on assault weapons. I have strongly avoided instant background checks, doing away with this terrible gun show loophole.
And I think we've got to move aggressively at the federal level.
Q: Is Bernie Sanders tough enough on guns?
CLINTON: No, not at all. We have to look at the fact that we lose 90 people a day from gun violence.
This has gone on too long and it's time the entire country stood up against the NRA. The majority of our country supports background checks, and even the majority of gun owners do.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: 2015 CNN Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas
Bernie Sanders on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Oct 13, 2015)
I want to shield gun shops from lawsuits, not manufacturers
Q: For a decade, you said that holding gun manufacturers legally responsible for mass shootings is a bad idea. Do you want to shield gun companies from lawsuits?SANDERS: Of course not. This was a large and complicated bill. There were provisions in it
that I think made sense. For example, do I think that a gun shop in the state of Vermont that sells legally a gun to somebody, and that somebody goes out and does something crazy, that that gun shop owner should be held responsible? I don't.
On the other hand, where you have manufacturers and where you have gun shops knowingly giving guns to criminals or aiding and abetting that, of course we should take action.
CLINTON: Senator Sanders did vote for this immunity provision. I voted
against it. I was in the Senate at the same time. It wasn't that complicated to me. It was pretty straightforward that he was going to give immunity to the only industry in America. Everybody else has to be accountable, but not the gun manufacturers.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: 2015 CNN Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas
Hillary Clinton on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Oct 5, 2015)
Sensible restraints on manufacturer liability & online sales
I will push hard to get more sensible restraints. I want to work with Congress, but I will also look at ways as president. We must expand background checks for gun shows and online sales, and close the current loophole that negates the need for
a background check after a 3-day waiting period. I will also repeal legislation that shields gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers from liability suits, even in cases of mass shootings.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: Fox News 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls
Donald Trump on Mass Shooting:
(Gun Control Oct 4, 2015)
Gun violence is inevitable; regulations won't help
Q: Every country has mentally ill people, not every country has mass shootings as frequently as we do. What do you propose to do about it?
TRUMP: No matter what you'll do you have people that are mentally ill and they have problems and they're going to slip through the cracks.
Q: So no new gun laws?
TRUMP: Well, the gun laws have nothing to do with this. This isn't guns. This is about mental illness. You're always going to have difficulties, no matter how tight you run it.
Even if you had great education having to do with mental illness, you educate the community, still you're going to have people that slip through the cracks. And these people are more than slipping through the cracks.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week 2015 interview by Martha Raddatz
Joe Biden on Mass Shooting:
(Families & Children Mar 13, 2013)
$2.3M in grants to help reduce domestic violence homicides
Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder today announced grants to target the urgent need to reduce domestic violence homicides. From 2009 to 2012, 40 percent of mass shootings--those with four or more victims killed--started with the
shooter targeting their girlfriend, wife or ex-wife.In total, the Department of Justice will award $2.3 million to twelve sites across the country as part of the new Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative (DVHP Initiative).
"Every single day in America, three women die at the hands of their boyfriend, or their husband, or their ex-husband. Many of these women have been threatened or severely abused in the past. We know what risk factors put someone in greater danger of
being killed by the person they love--and that also means we have the opportunity to step in and try to prevent these murders. That's why these grants are so important. They'll help stop violence before it turns deadly," said Vice President Biden.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: White House Press Release, "Grants on Domestic Violence"
Page last updated: Mar 01, 2022
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