Castro calls for federal licensing of guns
Julián Castro is offering a plan to combat domestic terrorism with a robust federal effort to root out extremism, adding to proposals from 2020 Democratic hopefuls in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton last weekend.
Echoing criticisms that the Trump administration has a misplaced focus, the former San Antonio mayor proposes shifting emphasis to adherents of white supremacy and retooling programs aimed now at Muslims and other sectors.
He’s also calling for a federal licensing program for those who own or purchase firearms.
“Now is our moment to decide what kind of country we want to be,” Castro writes in Medium, an online platform, introducing his People First Plan to Disarm Hate.
“We can be paralyzed by fear of extremism and cower before the corporate gun lobby, or we can combat white supremacist terrorism directly and end the gun violence epidemic that has plagued our nation for too long.”
Castro says he would set up a White House Initiative on Disarming Hate and make mandatory the reporting of hate crimes at all levels.
The plan has elements of his police reform agenda — one that already is more far-reaching than those proposed by others in the field — by increasing representation of minorities on police forces and urging “focus on engagement over surveillance” to build trust.
Like most Democrats vying to lead their party’s ticket, Castro embraces popular proposals to address gun violence, including widened background checks for gun purchasers and reinstituting a ban on the assault-style weapons like those used to kill 31 people and injure dozens more last weekend.
“This horrific tragedy is not an isolated incident. White nationalism is on the rise while militarygrade firearms are more easily available than ever,” he writes.
He notes the attack in El Paso by a gunman posting rhetoric like that used by President Donald Trump marked the biggest antiLatino massacre in modern American history.
“This issue is not only political, it’s personal,” said Castro, the only Latino in the field of Democratic contenders.
“My wife, Erica, an educator, and I are raising a daughter and son who both have brown skin. We worry for them and their friends. They should be able to grow up free from fear of hate and safe from gun violence. Their safety is our foremost responsibility.”
Castro, who was secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration, offered his plan at a critical time for his campaign and the candidacies of others in the Democratic contest.
He is among a dozen candidates in the race who have yet to meet Democratic National Committee requirements aimed at winnowing the field by the third round of debates, scheduled for Houston Sept. 12 and 13. Castro already has achieved a donor requirement that has eluded some of his rivals and has three weeks to score at least 2 percent in one more poll.
The killing sprees last weekend evidencing gun violence rarely seen in the developed world prompted Democrats in the race to address to gun violence, perhaps the most intractable public policy issue in the nation today.
Among plans issued this week, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg proposed $1 billion in spending for law enforcement and intelligence efforts aimed at white nationalism.
He also wants closer monitoring of online platforms like 8chan that would “name and shame” websites that facilitate the work of groups espousing hate.
Like Castro proposes, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee wants heightened emphasis on identifying “white nationalist extremists” and forming international alliances that can stem the spread of hate.
Beto O’Rourke, who has called Trump a white supremacist, is among those endorsing so-called universal background checks for gun purchases and closing numerous loopholes to remove guns from people who pose danger to themselves and others.
Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders both said this week that they would begin voluntary buyback programs for assault weapons.
Castro, too, proposes a buyback program and plugging gaps in the law including the so-called “Charleston Loophole,” so named for South Carolina mass killing at an African-American church by a white nationalist able to purchase his weapon after a check on his background was not completed in allotted time.
Castro offers an array of other steps related to guns. His plan would set up a federal licensing program operated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that requires fingerprints, an FBI background check, an interview and gun safety course “before allowing an individual to purchase and own firearms.”
Castro also proposes:
• Mandating a waiting period of at least seven days for purchase.
• Banning magazines that carry more than 10 rounds.
• Directing the FBI to deny gun sales to individuals with a warrant out for their arrest, which would reverse a Trump administration rule change.
“The gun violence epidemic is devastating families and communities in big cities and small towns, and an entire generation is growing up afraid for their safety no matter where they live,” Castro writes.