In Iowa, Dem candidates blame Trump, NRA for inaction on guns
DES MOINES, Iowa — Democratic presidential candidates on Saturday placed responsibility for inaction on gun violence in the hands of President Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association, in the face of broad national support for somegun control measures.
“If most Americans insist that something be done and it doesn’t happen, it means we need fundamental reform,” Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., said at a presidential forum on gun violence in downtown Des Moines.
The forum comes a week after a pair of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, shook the nation and reignited a debate surroundinggun rights in America. Seventeen candidates were due to speak and answer questions from members of the gun control group Moms Demand Action in the crowd, some of whom teared up while describing the ways gun violence had affected theirfamilies.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, in response to a question on how to avoid stigmatizing mental illness when the president has repeatedly highlighted that issue in response to mass shootings, called Mr. Trump a liar. Most people with a mental illness arenot violent.
California Sen. Kamala Harris also put some of the blame on Mr. Trump’s shoulders, saying that the president “didn’t pull the trigger, but he’s tweeting out the ammunition.”
A number of candidates have released gun control policies in the week since the shootings. On Saturday, the Democrats largely agreed on the broad contours of the policy debate, emphasizing the need to close background check loopholes, ban assault weapons and fund research into gun violence. Most of the candidates also called on campaignfinance reform as a solution to combat the influenceof the NRA on elections.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a sweeping gun control agenda on Saturday before theevent, starting with a trio of actions she vowed to immediately take if elected — including an expansion of background checks accomplishedby redefining the federal standard for those “engagedin the business” of gun sales — and continuing with a long list of legislative priorities. Chief among Ms. Warren’s longer-term gun control goals, she explained in a Medium post about her plan, are the creation of a federal license for any firearm purchase, exponentially higher taxes on guns and ammunition sales, and a one-gun-per month purchasing limit.
Former Vice President Joe Biden proposed putting biometric scanners on guns, so that only the owner could use them, and said laws should be changed to allow individuals to sue gun manufacturers for false advertising. And Ms. Harris has pledged to pursue executive actions to combat gun violence if Congress doesn’t move on legislation within her first 100 days in office, including closing the loophole that allows domestic abusers to buy guns and requiring background checks for customers of any gun dealer that sells more than five guns a year.
Ms. Harris also added her voice to the growing number of candidates calling on Walmart to stop selling guns — “I do believe that,” she said — but she also pressed strongly for background checks for potential gun buyers. Walmart is one of the biggest retailers of firearms in the United States, and the El Paso shooting occurred at aWalmart store.
“We need background checks. Let’s just start with that,” she said. “And we need people to be, as I’ve said, responsible in the way they are selling guns. So it’s not about everyone needs to stop selling guns. But we absolutely need to have checks and balances on it.”
Ms.Harris joined Ms. Warren, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro in calling for the bigbox store to end its gun sales. Ms. Warren, who called a day earlier for Walmart to stop selling guns, told Americans on Saturday to put pressure on the company by taking theirbusiness elsewhere.
“It’s up to every Walmart customer who worries about the safety of her children, of her neighbors, of her friends, of people across this country to say, ‘I’ve got choices on where I spend my money ... and I’d rather do my banking in line with my values,” she said.
Both Mr. Buttigieg and Mr. Biden criticized what theydescribed as absolutism on gun rights from Second Amendment proponents.
“Anyone can have a slingshot. No one can have a nuclear weapon. ... Somewhere between a water balloon and a Predator drone, America gets to draw a line in order to keep ourselves safe,” Mr. Buttigieg said.
And Mr. Biden declared, “Noamendment is absolute.”
But a number of the candidates expressed optimism that there was momentum in favor of gun reform because of the growing pressure from the public on lawmakers to act.
“There’s a tipping point that’s been reached. I feel it out there,” Ms. Klobuchar said.