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Cory Booker on Gun Control
Mayor of Newark; N.J. Senator; 2020 presidential contender (withdrawn)
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More people die from gun violence than from wars
Q: Do you have a Republican colleague in the Senate who would be onboard with your idea to get gun licensing done like automobile licensing?BOOKER: You know, if that was the attitude when Strom Thurmond had the longest filibuster ever on civil
rights, if it was this idea that we can't get it done because of the situation in the Senate--
The #1 reason why governments are formed is to protect the citizenry. Think about this. We have had more people die due to gun violence in my lifetime than
every single war in this country combined, from the Revolutionary War until now. This is not a side issue to me. It is a central issue to me.
We must awaken a more courageous empathy in this country so that we stand together and fight together
and overwhelm those Republicans who are not even representing their constituency. Because the majority of Americans, the majority of gun-owners agree with me, not the corporate gun lobby. It is time for a movement on this issue, and I will lead it.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
, Sep 12, 2019
More people die from gun violence than from wars
Q: Do you have a Republican colleague in the Senate on board with your idea to get gun licensing done like automobile licensing?BOOKER: 83% of Americans agree with licensing. It was about 20 years ago that I witnessed the aftermath of a shooting.
It's why I was the first person to come out for gun licensing. We are never going to solve this crisis if we have to wait for it to personally affect us or our neighborhood or our community before we demand action. I will bring a fight to the NRA and
the corporate gun lobby like they have never seen before.
Q: What about getting a Republican colleague in the Senate on board?
BOOKER: The #1 reason why governments are formed is to protect the citizenry. Think about this. We have had more people
die due to gun violence in my lifetime than every single war in this country combined, from the Revolutionary War until now. We must awaken a more courageous empathy so we overwhelm Republicans who are not even representing their constituency.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
, Sep 12, 2019
More people die from gun violence than from wars
Q: Do you have a Republican colleague in the Senate on board with your idea to get gun licensing done like automobile licensing?BOOKER: 83% of Americans agree with licensing. It was about 20 years ago that I witnessed the aftermath of a shooting.
It's why I was the first person to come out for gun licensing. We are never going to solve this crisis if we have to wait for it to personally affect us or our neighborhood or our community before we demand action. I will bring a fight to the NRA and
the corporate gun lobby like they have never seen before.
Q: What about getting a Republican colleague in the Senate on board?
BOOKER: The #1 reason why governments are formed is to protect the citizenry. Think about this. We have had more people
die due to gun violence in my lifetime than every single war in this country combined, from the Revolutionary War until now. We must awaken a more courageous empathy so we overwhelm Republicans who are not even representing their constituency.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
, Sep 12, 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.
Source: CNN State of the Union interview for 2019 Democratic primary
, Aug 11, 2019
Tired of "thoughts and prayers"--this is personal
I hope I'm the only one on this panel here that had seven people shot in their neighborhood just last week. Someone I knew, Shahad Smith, was killed with an assault rifle at the top of my block last year. I'm tired of hearing people all they have to
offer is thoughts and prayers.In my faith, people say faith without works is dead. The reason we have a problem is we've let the corporate gun lobby frame this debate. It is time that we have bold actions. This is not about policy. This is personal.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
, Jun 26, 2019
We require licenses to drive; so require licenses for guns
There's one thing we don't all agree with when it comes to guns, and I think it's common sense, and over 70 percent of Americans agree with me. If you need a license to drive a car, you should need a license to buy and own a firearm.
And not everybody in this field agrees with that. But in states like Connecticut that did that, they saw 40 percent drops in gun violence and 15 percent drops in suicides. We need to start having bold agendas on guns.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
, Jun 26, 2019
Evidence-based laws can lower gun violence
I have a comprehensive plan that people say is bold. It's not bold. It's commonsense, evidence-based things that we can do to lower gun violence. You have taken a look at the 16, 17 things we have in my plan that would drop the levels of
violence overall, from one-handgun- a-month laws, all the way to investing in the kind of mental health and the kind of community empowerment strategies that would do something about it.
Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls
, Jun 2, 2019
As with civil rights, we can build coalitions for gun laws
This echoes to me the civil rights movement, where people said it couldn't be done, that there were states that were standing firmly against it. But you know what happened is, we had the kind of coalitions necessary to tear down segregation.
We could muster that to do commonsense things that do not take away people's Second Amendment rights. The only people that should be afraid of the kind of legislation I'm pushing are gun runners, criminals, and the corporate gun lobby.
Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 interview
, Jun 2, 2019
I'm bringing a fight against the corporate gun lobby
If you want someone who's going to take a fight to the corporate gun lobby, take a fight against apathy and indifference, take a fight against the NRA, then I'm your person. I'm an African American male.
We're 6 percent of the nation's population, but we make up over 50 percent of the gun violence victims. This is something that's going on all around our nation. Enough is enough. I'm bringing a fight to this. And we will win this fight.
Source: CNN "SOTU" 2019 interview series
, Jun 2, 2019
Gun control works; refuse to believe it's not doable
The first way you get this done is stop having a debate on the corporate gun lobby's terms. They've been forming this debate and telling us what we can't do. American history is a testimony to doing things people said was impossible.
What you're saying is that we can't solve it. I don't accept that at all. When Connecticut did licensing, their shootings dropped, their murders dropped 40%. Suicides dropped 15%. These are things that have been tried and done and that work.
Source: ABC This Week 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls
, May 12, 2019
14-part gun control plan, with criminal enforcement
Booker was asked on CNN about his gun control proposals: "Rep. Eric Swalwell has also, like you, proposed an assault weapons ban. He's proposing a buyback program where Americans could essentially sell these guns to the government, but if they don't,
within a certain period of time, they would be prosecuted--thrown in jail, perhaps. Are you supportive of the same?"Booker responded affirmatively that the law would be enforced with criminal sanctions after a "reasonable period." He had said earlier:
"The critical thing is that these weapons of war should not be on our streets." Earlier in the day, Booker unveiled a 14-part gun control plan, which included a ban on assault weapons including high capacity magazines. "The biggest thing in the proposal
is a national gun licensing program, which would force Americans to apply for 5-year gun licenses before obtaining a firearm. The process would include fingerprinting, an interview, gun safety courses, and a federal background check," Booker said.
Source: Washington Examiner on 2020 Democratic primary
, May 6, 2019
Supports national gun licensing every 5 years
Proposed a 14-part plan that calls for a national gun licensing program,
which would force Americans to apply for 5-year gun licenses.
Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
, May 6, 2019
Consensus on common sense gun laws; ready to fight NRA
I am frustrated with politicians who all the best they can muster is to give thoughts and prayers. Gun-owners and non-gun owners agree that we need to have universal background checks and close so many of these loopholes. And the NRA
does not represent their membership, because their membership actually agrees with closing those loopholes. I am going to bring a fight like the NRA has never seen if they're going to defend corporate gun manufacturers more than represent the people.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Mar 27, 2019
Require background checks; ban assault weapons
- Booker often cites gun violence in his own Newark neighborhood when pushing for stricter federal gun safety laws. He supports legislation to require background checks for all gun purchases and introduced legislation to ban
high-capacity magazines and assault weapons.
- Booker previously sponsored legislation to ban bump stocks, devices that convert semi-automatic weapons into fully-automatic guns, which were used in the
October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.
- In 2000, as a city councilman in Newark, Booker supported banning all guns.
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By the time he was mayor a decade later, he admitted banning assault weapons would only prevent a "small percentage" of murders and called the gun debate "tiring."
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
, Feb 1, 2019
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.
Source: Cory Booker 'Promises Broken,' by Jesse Gordon, p. 17
, Apr 1, 2017
Prohibit firearms to suspected terrorists
Sen. Booker co-sponsored S. Amdt 4720 to H.R.2578, the Commerce, Justice, Science, & Related Agencies Appropriations Act> The amendment died in the U.S. Senate on June 20, 2016. Congressional Summary:-
Authorizes the attorney general to deny the transfer of a firearm if he or she determines that the transferee is a threat to public safety based on a "reasonable" suspicion that the transferee is engaged in terrorism.
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Requires the attorney general to establish a procedure to ensure that if an individual who has been under investigation for terrorism within the previous
5 years attempts to purchase a firearm, the attorney general is promptly notified of the attempt.
Source: Library of Congress roll call#106 on S.Amdt.4720 to H.R.2578
, Jun 20, 2016
$1,000 reward for tip on illegal weapons
Newarkers wanted to help; we just had to find ways to let them. To better incentivize getting tips on crimes we formed an anonymous gun hotline where we offered people $1,000 if they called with a tip that led to the recovery of an illegal weapon.
We even received tips from people calling from prison. This program resulted in getting many weapons off our streets--and I believe it saved lives.
Source: United, by Senator Cory Booker, p.144
, Feb 16, 2016
Common sense gun reform on day one
As Mayor, I did all I could to fight against gun violence:- I was deeply involved with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of mayors dedicated to bringing sanity to our gun laws;
- I focused my police department's efforts and resources on
gun crime;
- I attracted private philanthropy to invest in cutting edge technology like an acoustic gunshot detection system;
- I even travelled to Washington DC to personally appeal to the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and
Explosives for law enforcement access to crime gun trace data.
- But now I know that to better protect Newark, other New Jersey cities, and our suburbs and rural areas (which are experiencing more and more gun violence), the fight is in Congress.
Congress had the chance to get this right in the wake of Newtown. If elected to the Senate, I will start work on common sense gun reform on day one.
Source: 2014 New Jersey Senate campaign website CoryBooker.com
, Jul 1, 2014
More background checks & gun trace data
Passing Common Sense Gun Safety Legislation: It is plainly unacceptable that we don't have background checks for every gun sale in America, as well as bans on high capacity magazines and assault weapons that have no practical sporting use, and countless
other reforms that will save lives. I even personally appealed to the ATF for law enforcement access to crime gun trace data so that my department, and departments across New Jersey, could do more to understand and battle against gun trafficking.
Source: 2014 New Jersey Senate campaign website CoryBooker.com
, Jul 1, 2014
Criminal gun runners shouldn't have Second Amendment rights
Q: Why do you want to come to Washington in the middle of all this [instead of remaining an effective Mayor]?CORY BOOKER: As mayor, we faced a lot of headwinds because of some of the things that often seem very obvious that Washington isn't doing to
help out. So take, for example, gun violence in my city. The majority of guns that we recover don't even come from New Jersey. They come from criminal gun runners who are not law-abiding citizens who should have a Second Amendment right.
They come from criminals who can walk into secondary markets & buy weapons. And having commonsense background checks that 90% of Americans agree on makes sense, but we're not getting it done.
Q: Why do you think your presence I the Senate would make
gun control more likely?
CORY BOOKER: One senator [can't do it alone]. I have got to really I work hard and humbly and learn as much as I can and find creative ways to join with others to make a difference. I know we can do better. I know America can.
Source: Gwen Ifill interview on PBS "Newshour"
, Oct 17, 2013
Insane to carry concealed loaded weapons cross-state
We know we have a gun violence problem in America. The solution is not to get rid of guns. The solution is to have sensible gun laws that keep illegal weapons out of the hands of criminals but also empower communities to make smart choices about how to
best protect their neighborhoods, their towns, their cities. Right now moving through our federal legislature is this insane idea that says that people can carry hidden loaded weapons, concealed weapons, all throughout the country regardless of individua
state laws. They are basically saying that if in Florida or in Utah, they make a decision to issue a concealed weapon permit, that permit should apply to every other state. Some states may have lax laws. They may allow people that have had domestic viole
Source: 2011 Mayoral website, corybooker.com, Message to Congress
, Oct 18, 2011
Coalition "Mayors Against Illegal Guns"; Keep state laws
We believe, a Coalition of Mayors, called "Mayors Against Illegal Guns", we believe that local states should make their own choices and that other people should respect those laws. The laws of
Florida when it comes to concealed loaded weapons should not apply to New Jersey. The laws of New Jersey shouldn't necessarily apply to the laws of UT or AL. We cannot have a situation where
Congress passes a law and next thing you know, people are showing up in your community with hidden weapons that you, your state legislature, your mayors don't want to have happen. We need each other to respect the laws of our states.
And most importantly we need to respect human lives and come together with sensible laws to make sure that our neighborhoods, our towns, our cities, our families can be kept safe and strong and secure.
Source: 2011 Mayoral website, corybooker.com, Message to Congress
, Oct 18, 2011
Co-sponsored background check for every firearm sale.
Booker co-sponsored the Bipartisan Background Checks Act
H.R.8: To require a background check for every firearm sale. This Act may be cited as the "Background Check Expansion Act".
- It shall be unlawful for any person who is not a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer a firearm to any other person who is not so licensed [and conducted a background check].
- The [restrictions] shall not apply to any law enforcement officer, or member of the armed forces, or bona fide gift between spouses, between parents and their children, or between siblings or [immediate family members].
- Temporary transfers [are allowed] if the transferor has no reason to believe that the transferee will use or intends to use the firearm in a crime or is prohibited from possessing firearms; at a shooting range; or while reasonably necessary for the purposes of hunting.
Opposing argument from the Heritage Foundation, 2/26/2019: Heritage Action opposes the Bipartisan Background Checks Act
(H.R. 8) and will include it as a key vote on our legislative scorecard. This legislation would require universal background checks for all firearm sales (even private) with specific exceptions. Unfortunately, universal background checks would do little to prevent firearm violence and would instead make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to purchase, own, carry, and use a firearm. Studies show that universal background checks are largely ineffective when it comes to preventing mass shootings. In addition, most people imprisoned for firearm-related crimes access their firearms illegally through theft, the underground market, family members, or friends. H.R. 8 is poorly written and makes criminals out of many law-abiding Americans who commonly make low-risk firearm transfers.
Legislative outcome Roll call 99 in House on 2/27/2019 passed 240-190-2; introduced in Senate 1/8/2019; no action as of 3/28/2020.
Source: H.R.8/S.42 19-HR0008 on Feb 27, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 23, 2021