Hillary Clinton Lays Out Plan To Ban Guns

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has issued proposals on Monday that she says will eliminate gun violence in America. 

Her proposals come shortly after the mass shooting in Oregon which killed 13 people.

Nytimes.com reports:

The proposal most likely to generate controversy is using executive action to close the so-called gun show loophole, if efforts to pass new measures in Congress do not succeed, according to a campaign aide to Mrs. Clinton, who asked for anonymity to lay out the plans before the candidate does.

Most of the ideas would face a steep battle with the Republican-led Congress, and efforts to pass new gun restrictions in the wake of the murders of 20 schoolchildren and six adults in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012 failed in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Since then, there have been a number of mass shootings, including the most recent, at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., last week. But her proposals are in sharp contrast to the Republican presidential hopefuls, and she is making them as her main rival in the primary polls, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, has gained ground against her, but has also come under scrutiny among Democrats for some gun control policies he has opposed in the past.

A central issue in Mrs. Clinton’s proposals are the background checks on prospective gun buyers, which are required for retailers at stores. But under federal law, they are not required at gun shows or over the Internet with private sellers.

Under Mrs. Clinton’s plan, she would use administrative powers to make anyone selling a substantial number of guns declared “in the business” of firearms dealing, and subject to the same rules as retailers, if Congress does not act, according to the campaign aide.

It was not immediately clear what the bar for being declared “in the business” would be. And use of executive action in connection with guns is certain to face criticism from staunch supporters of the Second Amendment. It is also likely to be applauded by Democrats who have grown weary of gridlock in Congress.

Earlier in the evening, another Democratic candidate, Martin O’Malley, urged Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders to embrace policies he supports, including a reinstatement of the lapsed federal assault weapons ban. That does not appear to be among those she will suggest.

Mrs. Clinton will suggest urging Congress to end another loophole, by which people with felony records who should be barred from obtaining a gun can get one if their background check is not completed within three days. That loophole was how Dylann Roof, the accused killer in Charleston, obtained his weapon despite a felony conviction for a drug arrest.