Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign, 2016#Gun Control

Hillary Clinton Democratic presidential nominee Running mate: Tim Kaine

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The 2016 Republican Party Platform stated support for "the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a natural inalienable right that predates the Constitution and is secured by the Second Amendment." The Libertarian Party Platform also stated support for "the individual right recognized by the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms."

In contrast, the 2016 Democratic Party Platform called for "sensible action to address gun violence," and the Green Party Platform called for "[t]houghtful, carefully considered gun control."

Read what Hillary Clinton and the 2016 Democratic Party Platform said about gun control.

Clinton on gun control[edit]

• In the third and final presidential debate on October 19, 2016, Hillary Clinton said "that there can be and must be reasonable regulation" of gun ownership. She continued, "I think we need comprehensive background checks, need to close the online loophole, close the gun show loophole. There's other matters that I think are sensible that are the kind of reforms that would make a difference that are not in any way conflicting with the Second Amendment. You mentioned the Heller decision. And what I was saying that you referenced, Chris, was that I disagreed with the way the court applied the Second Amendment in that case, because what the District of Columbia was trying to do was to protect toddlers from guns and so they wanted people with guns to safely store them. And the court didn't accept that reasonable regulation, but they've accepted many others. So I see no conflict between saving people's lives and defending the Second Amendment."^[2]

• In an interview with The Huffington Post on June 15, 2016, Clinton discussed the Orlando shooter and restricting access to guns for individuals on the no-fly list. Clinton said, “He was investigated three times by the FBI, and it is important that we take into account the easy access to these weapons of war. They should not be on our street. And it is something that we have got to address. And it is not only blocking suspected terrorists from buying guns. It is clear that if you are too dangerous to fly on a plane, you are too dangerous to buy a gun. And we have got to tighten up our provisions.”^[3]

• During a speech at the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center on June 13, 2016, Clinton said that there should be tighter regulations governing who can purchase guns. “I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets and we may have our disagreements about gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few essential things. If the FBI is watching you for a suspected terrorist link, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked,” she said.^[4][5]

• Clinton participated in a panel discussion of gun violence in New York on April 11, 2016. She challenged Bernie Sanders’ position on gun control and gun safety in rural Vermont. She said, “Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont.” She continued, “So this is not, 'Oh, you know, I live in a rural state, we don’t have these problems. … It’s easy to cross borders. Criminals, domestic abusers, traffickers, people who are dangerously mentally ill — they cross borders, too. And sometimes they do it to get the guns they use. This has to become a voting issue for those of us who want to save lives.”^[6]

• On March 27, 2016, The New York Daily News published an op-ed by Clinton on gun control reform. In addition to calling for the repeal of gun industry liability protections, implementing comprehensive background checks, and closing the Charleston loophole, Clinton also addressed Donald Trump’s and Ted Cruz’s positions on gun control.^[7]

• At the seventh Democratic debate on March 6, 2016, Clinton discussed holding firearms distributors legally responsible for how their product is used: “I also believe, so strongly Gene (ph), that giving immunity to gunmakers and sellers was a terrible mistake. Because it removed any accountability from the makers and the sellers. And it also disrupted what was a very promising legal theory, to try to get makers to do more to make guns safer for example. To try to give sellers more accountability for selling guns when they shouldn’t have. So that is an issue that Senator Sanders and I differ on, I voted against giving them immunity, but I think we should very seriously move to repeal that and go back to making sure gun makers and sellers are like any other business. They can be held accountable.”^[8]

• The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence praised Hillary Clinton’s commitment to gun reform on February 3, 2016. President Dan Gross said, “Hillary Clinton is not only a long-time champion of the life-saving Brady law, she has made gun violence prevention a centerpiece of her campaign.” He added, “Bernie Sanders didn’t even mention the epidemic of gun violence last night, perhaps because – after voting against the Brady Bill five times and for PLCAA [Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act] twice – he has been on the wrong side of this issue for so long.”^[9]

• After President Obama announced his executive actions to prevent gun violence, Clinton, on January 5, 2016, tweeted: “Thank you, @POTUS, for taking a crucial step forward on gun violence. Our next president has to build on that progress—not rip it away.”^[10]

• In an MSNBC interview January 5, 2016, Clinton said, “There needs to be a rival organization to the NRA [National Rifle Association] of responsible gun owners who know that their hunting rights, their shooting rights, their collection rights … all of that is not going to be affected. So I’m going to keep beating the drum, and I’m delighted that the president announced the actions he did today.”^[11]

• During a speech at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis on December 15, 2015, Clinton proposed instituting gun control measures to keep potential terrorists from purchasing guns. She said, "Terrorists use guns to kill Americans. I think we should make it harder for them from to do that. ...It defies common sense that Republicans in Congress refuse to make it harder for potential terrorists to buy guns."^[12]

• On December 6, 2015, Clinton criticized Liberty University President Jerry Falwell for saying “that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in and killed them.” Falwell later clarified that he meant terrorists, not all Muslims. Clinton said, “This is the kind of deplorable, not only hateful, response to a legitimate security issue but it is giving aid and comfort to ISIS and other radical jihadists.”^[13]

• While discussing the shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood and the terrorist attacks in Paris at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner on November 29, 2015, Clinton criticized Republicans for not considering gun control measures. She said, “This is truly unbelievable, that after what we’ve seen in Paris and other places, Republicans will not bring up a bill that will prohibit anyone on the no-fly list from buying a gun in America. If you are too dangerous to fly in America, you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America. How many more Americans need to die before we take action?”^[14]

• Clinton's campaign released an ad November 3, 2015, that called for increased gun control laws and promising to make the issue a central part of her campaign that can compete with the National Rifle Association. The ad came as she has sought to use the issue to distinguish herself from Bernie Sanders.^[15]

• During the first Democratic debate, October 13, 2015, Clinton criticized Sanders for voting against the gun control law known as the Brady bill. Clinton said, “Senator Sanders did vote five times against the Brady bill. Since it was passed, more than 2 million prohibited purchases have been prevented. He also did vote, as he said, 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 to me that he was going to give immunity to the only industry in America. Everybody else has to be accountable, but not the gun manufacturers. And we need to stand up and say: Enough of that. We're not going to let it continue.”^{[16] [17]}

• In a town hall on October 7, 2015, Clinton compared the National Rifle Association (NRA) to Iranians and communists. “The NRA tries to keep gun owners — the ones who are members — really upset all the time so they can keep collecting their money, because they tell them they’re the only thing that’s going to stop the black helicopters from landing in the front yard and people’s guns being seized. That’s the argument they make. And it works with some people and it has turned a lot of people into absolutists themselves,” she said.^[18]

• According to NPR in October 2015, Clinton's gun control platform included “pledging to act through executive action to close the gun-show loophole, tightening Internet gun sales, if Congress doesn't act, repealing a law that shields gun manufacturers from certain lawsuits, closing the ‘Charleston loophole,’ [and] prohibiting domestic abusers from being able to buy and possess firearms.”^[19]

• After two Virginia journalists were murdered on live television on August 26, 2015, Clinton pledged to address gun violence. "We have got to do something about gun violence in America. I will take it on. There are many people who face it and know it, but then turn away because it’s hard. It’s a very political, difficult issue in America, but I believe we are smart enough, we are compassionate enough, to figure out how to balance the legitimate Second Amendment rights with preventive measures and control measures so that whatever motivated this murderer, who eventually took his own life, we will not see more deaths — needless, senseless deaths,” Clinton said at a campaign stop in Iowa. She added, “I want to reiterate how important it is to not let yet another terrible instance go by without trying to do something more to prevent this incredible killing that is stalking our country.”^[20][21]

• On June 18, 2015, the day after the Charleston church shooting, Clinton said, "How many innocent people in our country -- from little children, church members, to movie theater attendees -- how many people do we need to see cut down before we act? So as we mourn and as our hearts break a little more, and as we send this message of solidarity that we will not forsake those who have been victimized by gun violence, this time we have to find answers together."^[22]

• According to the New York Daily News, in 2009 Clinton "called for a new assault weapon ban in the U.S. on Thursday in hopes of cutting off arms flowing to Mexican drug gangs."^[23]

• During her 2008 presidential campaign, Clinton positioned herself as supportive of gun rights. During a speech she said, “I disagree with Senator Obama’s assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about immigration or trade simply out of frustration."^[24]

• In 2006, the National Rifle Association gave Clinton an "F" rating.^[25]

• Read what other 2016 presidential candidates said about gun control.

Recent news[edit]

This section links to a Google news search for the term Hillary + Clinton + Gun + Control

See also[edit]

• Hillary Clinton
• Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
• 2016 presidential candidates on the Charleston church shooting

Footnotes[edit]

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