Democrats vow ban of assault weapons

BURLINGTON, Iowa — Former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump of “fanning the flames of white supremacy” in remarks after two mass shootings over the weekend killed 31 people and wounded dozens of others.

“Trump offers no moral leadership,” Biden said in Burlington, Iowa. The president “seems to have no interest in unifying the nation.”

Biden’s remarks have been echoed in some form by most of the Democratic presidential candidates. On Wednesday, the presidential rivals were nearly unanimous in their support of a plan to confront gun violence, just days after shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, elevated the issue to the forefront of the party’s presidential primary.

Virtually all of them vowed to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, while some, such as Sen. Cory Booker, called for requiring all gun owners to obtain licenses.

Hours before Biden lashed out against Trump in Iowa, Booker spoke in Charleston, S.C.’s Mother Emanuel Church, where a white supremacist shot to death nine black parishioners four years ago. The New Jersey senator demanded bold action to stop gun violence.

“We must act to get weapons of war off our streets, out of our grocery stores, our bars, our temples and our churches by banning assault weapons once and for all,” Booker said.

While many Democrats have yet to take a firm position on licensing, their willingness to lean in on gun control marks a definite shift for the party. Democrats with national ambitions have traditionally feared alienating millions of gun owners by embracing plans to enact dramatic changes to the nation’s gun control laws.

But on Wednesday, even red-state Democrat Steve Bullock, the Montana governor, backed gun control measures, insisting in a Washington speech that gun owners are worried about their families’ safety just like everyone else. He called for universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, and so-called red flag laws aimed at restricting gun ownership from high-risk individuals.

“I am a hunter and a gun owner,” Bullock said. “And let me say as a hunter, no real hunter needs a 30-round clip. No real hunter needs a weapon of war.”

Biden promised to ban assault weapons and highcapacity magazines, reminding voters that he helped enact the now-expired law in the 1990s that originally outlawed such weapons. He also signaled support for a federal program to buy back assault weapons from gun owners.

Turning to the president, Biden said, there was “no evidence that the presidency has awakened his conscience in the least.” Trump “has more in common with George Wallace than George Washington,” he added.

Trump derided Biden’s remarks on Twitter as “sooo boring!”