6th District Democratic candidates talk gun safety

Lucy McBath, a prominent gun control activist, is not the only Democratic candidate highlighting gun safety in the race to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in suburban Atlanta.

McBath’s three opponents in the May 22 primary in the 6th Congressional District sounded off about the issue Monday night in a forum organized by the Jewish Democratic Women’s Salon at Heritage Sandy Springs. The moderator asked how the nation should respond to concerns about Second Amendment rights while assuring protections against gun violence.

Speaking first, Bobby Kaple, a former television news anchor who lives in Milton, called for stricter background checks, requiring them for people who purchase firearms at gun shows and banning so-called bump stocks, which effectively turn semiautomatic firearms into automatic weapons like the ones used in last year’s Las Vegas massacre.

“The majority of Americans agree they should be passed, and they are not going to infringe on anybody’s right,” he said of the measures he supports. “But we need to remember that we are trying to protect our children here, we are trying to protect our neighbors.”

Kevin Abel, an entrepreneur from Sandy Springs, called for an assault weapons ban. He also supports shrinking firearm magazine sizes, and he wants to tighten background check requirements. Able also backs allowing the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research the causes of gun violence. In 1996, Congress passed the Dickey Amendment, barring federal funding to promote gun control legislation. President Donald Trump signed a spending bill last month that clarifies the CDC can research the issue, but advocates warn that won’t happen unless Congress funds it.

“It is unconscionable that tragedy after tragedy occurs and we have the same conversation over and over again,” Abel said after referring to some of America’s deadliest mass shootings, including the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. “But this time it is different. I think we all feel that something is different. It is the youths. They have stood up and demanded that we do something. And this is phenomenal. This is a moment in time that we can capitalize on.”

Steven Griffin, a longtime 6th District resident and a former CDC policy coordinator, spoke up in favor of funding CDC gun violence research. He also endorsed gun violence restraining orders, which would permit families and police to petition courts to take firearms away from people who pose a danger to themselves or others.

“Talk is cheap,” he said. “We need change.”

McBath did not attend Monday’s forum because of a scheduling conflict, the moderator announced. She and her Democratic opponents are vying to take on Handel, who previously won the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. In a nationally watched race last year, Handel won a special election for Tom Price’s former congressional seat over Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff. Her district includes parts of north Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties.