Clinton calls for new gun control laws, outflanking Sanders - MSNBC

[Electric Monk]

(cross-posting from GD)

In the wake of the Charleston, South Carolina massacre at a historically black church this week, Hillary Clinton vowed Saturday to fight for new gun control laws despite the overwhelming opposition. She also said America must address lingering racism exposed by the shooting.

By leaning into gun control, Clinton found a place where is squarely to left of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has energized liberal crowds across the country and gained steam in recent polls as her top rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in San Francisco, Clinton said it “make no sense” that Congress has failed to pass simple gun control laws, like universal background checks. She vowed to keep fighting and promised to achieve reform if elected president.

“The politics of this issue have been poisoned,” she acknowledged. “But we can’t give up. The stakes are too high.”

Sanders hails from Vermont, a rural state that lacks virtually any gun regulations and he seems uncomfortable discussing the issue. At an event in Las Vegas, Nevada Friday, he was asked twice about guns, but declined to promise specific new gun control laws and said he didn’t want to get into the issue at the moment.

more
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/clinton-calls-new-gun-control-laws-outflanking-sanders

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Poetry & Platitudes

HOW ?

[elleng]

2. Thanks so much, 'ma'am' and MSNBC.

Martin O'Malley says he's pissed.

I'm pissed.

I'm pissed that after an unthinkable tragedy like the one in South Carolina yesterday, instead of jumping to act, we sit back and wait for the appropriate moment to say what we're all thinking: that this is not the America we want to be living in.

I'm pissed that we’re actually asking ourselves the horrific question of, what will it take? How many senseless acts of violence in our streets or tragedies in our communities will it take to get our nation to stop caving to special interests like the NRA when people are dying?

I'm pissed that after working hard in the state of Maryland to pass real gun control—laws that banned high-magazine weapons, increased licensing standards, and required fingerprinting for handgun purchasers—Congress continues to drop the ball.

It's time we called this what it is: a national crisis.

I proudly hold an F rating from the NRA, and when I worked to pass gun control in Maryland, the NRA threatened me with legal action, but I never backed down.

So now, I'm doubling down, and I need your help. What we did in Maryland should be the first step of what we do as a nation. The NRA is already blaming the victims of yesterday's shooting for their own deaths, saying they too should have been armed. Let's put an end to this madness and finally stand up to them. Here are some steps we should be taking:

1. A national assault weapons ban.

2. Stricter background checks.

3. Efforts to reduce straw-buying, like fingerprint requirements.

Not one of the GOP presidential candidates comes even close to being right on this issue—and some actually believe that things like background checks are excessive, or that high-capacity magazines are a basic right. Well, I believe we all have a basic right to safe schools, safe places to worship, and safe streets.

Are you with me?

Martin O'Malley

https://martinomalley.com/wemustact/

[misterhighwasted]

3. + 10000 This ^

[elleng]

4. Thanks, misterhighwasted.

I needed that. I'm back watching The West Wing for relief from 'reality' for a while.

[misterhighwasted]

5. I hear you elleng. I just had to step back from the tragedy

Spent the day with my granddaughter.
She's eight & I am grateful for her every word, every smile, every question.
I'd like a kinder world from here on.
Peace

[TM99]

6. I don't see anything in Clinton's

comments that are at odds with Sanders record.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-votes-for-background-checks-assault-weapons-ban

Sanders has an F rating as well from the NRA. In 2013, he voted for the assault weapon ban and expanded background checks.

http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/Bernie_Sanders_Gun_Control.htm

I agree with O'Malley and like his passion on this issue. His proposals are in line with how Sanders has been voting on gun control issues.

I fail to see how Clinton's statements today 'outflank' Sanders though.

[jimmy the one]

7. the least one should do, bg checks & awb

TM99: Sanders has an F rating as well from the NRA. In 2013, he voted for the assault weapon ban and expanded background checks.

He has to play both sides of the fence, or lose support from either his own state or the rest of American democrats. He cannot toss his blue dog Vermont pro gun leaning dems under the bus, and he can't ignore calls for gun control by the predominance of democrats, so he has to play mum & deflect the issue.
I know you support him for president, but you do realize that it's highly unlikely he will be anything more than a runnerup to the nomination. I think he's OK, fellow democrat, & would vote for him as a candidate of course, but I can't see it happening.
I doubt his gun control position would make many gun control advocates happy, I think he'd be disappointing in that regard, since he seems to be mostly avoiding the issue.
BG checks & awb are the least one should do re gun control, & do not make clear one's position on gun control, tho they do suggest.

[TM99]

8. I don't see it as playing both sides of a fence.

I see it as a principled moderate gun control stance that recognizes the needs of all Americans.

We do need gun control AND we still have a 2nd amendment right to bear arms.

This red team/blue team mentality since the 1980's has led to positions being split between the parties. I think it is high time we got past that.