Michael Bennet on Gun Control : Jul 17, 2019
Support a ban on assault weapons

NINE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Joseph Biden, Jr.; Cory Booker; John Delaney; Kirsten Gillibrand; Kamala Harris; Amy Klobuchar; Bernard Sanders; Elizabeth Warren; Marianne Williamson.

Sen. Michael Bennet said during a CNN town hall that he "would support" banning assault weapons, despite voting against the proposed Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

John Delaney on Gun Control : Jul 17, 2019
Ban assault weapons & all high-capacity accessories

NINE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Michael Bennet; Joseph Biden, Jr.; Cory Booker; Kirsten Gillibrand; Kamala Harris; Amy Klobuchar; Bernard Sanders; Elizabeth Warren; Marianne Williamson.

Sen. Michael Bennet said during a CNN town hall that he "would support" banning assault weapons, despite voting against the proposed Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Former Rep. John Delaney's campaign website calls for a ban on "semiautomatic weapons that have military-style features, including the AR-15," as well as a ban on "high-capacity magazines" and "all accessories designed to increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic weapon, including bump stocks and trigger cranks."

Julian Castro on Gun Control : Jul 17, 2019
Voluntary buyback, despite their mixed success

FIVE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Steve Bullock; Peter Buttigieg; Beto O`Rourke; Tim Ryan; Andrew Yang.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, as mayor of San Antonio in 2012, supported renewing the federal assault weapons ban following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Castro said during a CNN town hall that he supports "things like gun buybacks," adding: "I know that they have had mixed success, but I believe that in some circumstances that's a good policy, and that we can recover some weapons that shouldn't be out there on the street."

Tim Ryan on Gun Control : Jun 26, 2019
We need mental health counseling to prevent mass shootings

Rep. Tim RYAN: These kids are traumatized. We need to start dealing with the trauma that our kids have. We need trauma-based care in every school. 90% of the shooters come from the school they're in, and 73% of them feel shamed, traumatized, or bullied. We need to make sure that these kids feel connected to the school. That means a mental health counselor in every single school. We need to start playing offense. If our kids are so traumatized that they're getting a gun and going into our schools, we're doing something wrong.

Eric Swalwell on Gun Control : Apr 4, 2019
After mass shootings, time to make gun control an issue

Andrew Yang on Gun Control : Feb 6, 2019
Make gun manufacturers liable for mass shootings

Kirsten Gillibrand on Gun Control : Nov 8, 2018
Inaction on mass shootings due to greed of NRA & gunmakers

Still, the pro-gun reform lawmaker offered some hope for future reform based on Tuesday's elections. "I do believe things are changing. And the reason why I believe that is because we had candidates run in this last election who ran on this issue," she said.

Still, Gillibrand foresaw more work ahead of Democrats to pass stricter gun laws. "We have to obviously flip the Senate to be able to do whatever the House could do, that common-sense reform," Gillibrand said. "But I think the country is in a place where we will fight this until we get it done because you need these basic reforms."

John Kasich on Gun Control : Nov 6, 2018
1999: Cool off after school shootings; 2018: time for action

ANALYSIS: Kasich claims that he only calls for "small steps" but he lists "background checks and increased attention to mental illness," which are typical first steps recommended by gun control advocates. Kasich also recommends executive action at the federal level, and action at the state and local level-- methods reasonably likely to overcome NRA opposition. Kasich's evolution on this topic now qualifies him as a moderate on gun rights, where prior to 2018 he was hard-line for the Second Amendment.

John Kasich on Gun Control : Sep 18, 2018
Learn from mass shooting tragedies and take action

John Kasich has spoken out on the need for reasonable reforms to prevent future massacres--including the potential of expanding background checks on gun sales and limiting the ability to sell weapons that have often been used in mass killings.

The 2nd Amendment is one of the most divisive issues in our country. Leadership requires the willingness to tackle these issues and to find solutions. Our country and our children deserve that leadership.

John Kasich on Gun Control : Feb 18, 2018
We need bipartisan gun reform to deal with mass shootings

Last year, legislation Kasich signed went into effect that expanded where people can carry concealed handguns to include willing colleges and day-care facilities. But last November in an op-ed, Kasich called for a bipartisan approach to implement some kind of gun reform.

This week, he said Congress' history of inaction on the issue and the likelihood it will not address it in the wake of the recent high profile mass shooting was just one sign of broad dysfunction, citing the immigration debate as another example. "Think about how bad it is in Congress," Kasich said. "They can't decide anything. They can't agree to anything down there."

Bernie Sanders on Gun Control : Feb 16, 2018
Applaud students taking action to prevent school shootings

While there may not be any guaranteed answers as to how we end mass shootings, that does not mean that we should not be doing everything possible to prevent them. We need action. While the American people are divided over various aspects of gun control, the more important truth is that there is now widespread & growing agreement on a variety of actions that would almost certainly lower the level of gun violence in this country.

Arvin Vohra on Gun Control : Dec 12, 2017
Remove all gun ownership restrictions

Cory Booker on Gun Control : Apr 1, 2017
Failed to pass gun legislation after Orlando mass shooting

ANALYSIS: After mass shootings over past years, Senate Democrats introduced new gun legislation. None passed. Booker pointed out that Congress failed to act "in the wake of Newtown," the 2012 mass shooting, when Booker was mayor. When Booker was Senator, the 2016 Orlando mass shooting occurred, and provided Booker an opportunity to "join with others to make a difference," as he promised--that legislation failed too. Booker and Democrats are aware that they cannot pass gun restrictions nationally on "day one"--which is why they try only in the wake of mass shootings.

Bernie Sanders on Gun Control : Nov 15, 2016
Intervene with mental illness, to prevent mass shootings

In my view, there are very concrete steps we can take to lessen the number of tragedies and to make those that happen less lethal, including ideas supported by a majority of gun owners:
• We must strengthen and better enforce the instant background check system.
• We must close the gun-show loophole, which allows unlicensed dealers to sell guns to people who otherwise would not be able to get them.
• We must make "straw man" purchases a federal crime.
• We must ban semiautomatic assault weapons, which are designed strictly for killing human beings.
• We must recognize that our mental health system is seriously broken. It's past time for a serious discussion about identifying, intervening, and treating mental illness.

Amy Klobuchar on Foreign Policy : Jun 12, 2016
Fight ISIS Internet recruiting, but don't indict Islam

KLOBUCHAR: Having been the local prosecutor during 9/11 when they caught Moussaoui, in our state [Minnesota], I know that you want to make sure that you have the evidence clear before you make statements about a solution. But we know some of the things that have to happen here. The continual work to root out this evil at its roots at the enclave of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, to stop the flow of the international money, to go after the recruiting that we've seen in the US over the Internet.

Q: In Minnesota, there have been numerous cases about people being recruited to part of the ISIS campaign?

KLOBUCHAR: Yes; dozens of indictments & recent jury verdicts. And what we've found is that individual people are recruited over the Internet. No mom wants their kid recruited to go fight for ISIS. You don't want to indict an entire religion, you don't want to indict an entire community over a lone wolf.

John Hickenlooper on Gun Control : May 24, 2016
Universal background checks for all gun sales

Then we got to it.

"Let me prime the pump: Why not have universal background checks for all gun sales? . Surely, Second Amendment advocates and gun control supporters can find common ground in support of this proposition: Let's examine our laws and make the changes needed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

"It's not enough to prevent dangerous people from getting weapons. We have to do a better job of identifying and helping people who are a threat to themselves and others. That is why we are requesting your support for a comprehensive overhaul of our state's mental health system."

Donald Trump on Gun Control : Jan 14, 2016
Mass shootings are due to a huge mental health problem

BUSH: We don't need to add new rules. We need to focus on what the bigger issue is: we should focus on is the violence in our communities. The other issue is mental health. Why not begin to deal with the process of mental health issues so that people that are spiraling out of control because of mental health challenges don't have access to guns.

TRUMP: What Jeb said is absolutely correct. We have a huge mental health problem in this country. We're closing hospitals, we're closing wards, we're closing so many because the states want to save money. We have to get back into looking at what's causing it. The guns don't pull the trigger. It's the people that pull the trigger and we have to find out what is going on. You get the Congress. You get the Senate. You get together. You do legislation.

Hillary Clinton on Gun Control : Oct 13, 2015
Don't shield gun manufacturers from lawsuits:I vote that way

SANDERS: Bernie Sanders has a D-minus voting rating from the NRA. Back in 1988, I told the gun owners of Vermont that I supported a ban on assault weapons. I have strongly avoided instant background checks, doing away with this terrible gun show loophole. And I think we've got to move aggressively at the federal level.

Q: Is Bernie Sanders tough enough on guns?

CLINTON: No, not at all. We have to look at the fact that we lose 90 people a day from gun violence. This has gone on too long and it's time the entire country stood up against the NRA. The majority of our country supports background checks, and even the majority of gun owners do.

Bernie Sanders on Gun Control : Oct 13, 2015
I want to shield gun shops from lawsuits, not manufacturers

SANDERS: Of course not. This was a large and complicated bill. There were provisions in it that I think made sense. For example, do I think that a gun shop in the state of Vermont that sells legally a gun to somebody, and that somebody goes out and does something crazy, that that gun shop owner should be held responsible? I don't. On the other hand, where you have manufacturers and where you have gun shops knowingly giving guns to criminals or aiding and abetting that, of course we should take action.

CLINTON: Senator Sanders did vote for this immunity provision. I voted against it. I was in the Senate at the same time. It wasn't that complicated to me. It was pretty straightforward that he was going to give immunity to the only industry in America. Everybody else has to be accountable, but not the gun manufacturers.

Hillary Clinton on Gun Control : Oct 5, 2015
Sensible restraints on manufacturer liability & online sales

Donald Trump on Gun Control : Oct 4, 2015
Gun violence is inevitable; regulations won't help

TRUMP: No matter what you'll do you have people that are mentally ill and they have problems and they're going to slip through the cracks.

Q: So no new gun laws?

TRUMP: Well, the gun laws have nothing to do with this. This isn't guns. This is about mental illness. You're always going to have difficulties, no matter how tight you run it. Even if you had great education having to do with mental illness, you educate the community, still you're going to have people that slip through the cracks. And these people are more than slipping through the cracks.

Joe Biden on Families & Children : Mar 13, 2013
$2.3M in grants to help reduce domestic violence homicides

In total, the Department of Justice will award $2.3 million to twelve sites across the country as part of the new Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative (DVHP Initiative). "Every single day in America, three women die at the hands of their boyfriend, or their husband, or their ex-husband. Many of these women have been threatened or severely abused in the past. We know what risk factors put someone in greater danger of being killed by the person they love--and that also means we have the opportunity to step in and try to prevent these murders. That's why these grants are so important. They'll help stop violence before it turns deadly," said Vice President Biden.