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2016 presidential candidates on laws governing guns and firearms

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2016 Presidential Election
Date: November 8, 2016
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Winner: Donald Trump (R)
Hillary Clinton (D) • Jill Stein (G) • Gary Johnson (L) • Vice presidential candidates
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For information about laws governing guns and firearms under the Trump administration, click here.

This page was current as of the 2016 election.

The 2016 Republican Party Platform stated support for "the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a natural inalienable right that predates the Constitution and is secured by the Second Amendment." The Libertarian Party Platform also stated support for "the individual right recognized by the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms."

In contrast, the 2016 Democratic Party Platform called for "sensible action to address gun violence," and the Green Party Platform called for "[t]houghtful, carefully considered gun control."

See what the 2016 candidates and their respective party platforms said about laws governing guns and firearms below.

OVERVIEW OF CANDIDATE POSITIONS
  • Hillary Clinton called for repealing gun industry liability protections, implementing comprehensive background checks, and closing the Charleston loophole, which referred to the law allowing federally licensed dealers to sell firearms after a three-day waiting period for a background check, regardless of whether they received the results of the background check.
  • Donald Trump expressed his support for the Second Amendment. He said that there would be fewer casualties of mass shootings if victims had guns. He opposed gun-free zones and was endorsed by the NRA.
  • Jill Stein said, "We certainly need an assault weapons ban." She also called for regulations to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and individuals with mental illness. She connected gun violence with economic disparity and said that the NRA should stay out of politics because it failed to represent the interests of gun owners.
  • Gary Johnson rejected the idea that restricting gun sales would make Americans safer.

    • Democratic ticket

    Democratic Party Hillary Clinton

    caption
    • In the third and final presidential debate on October 19, 2016, Hillary Clinton said "that there can be and must be reasonable regulation" of gun ownership. She continued, "I think we need comprehensive background checks, need to close the online loophole, close the gun show loophole. There's other matters that I think are sensible that are the kind of reforms that would make a difference that are not in any way conflicting with the Second Amendment. You mentioned the Heller decision. And what I was saying that you referenced, Chris, was that I disagreed with the way the court applied the Second Amendment in that case, because what the District of Columbia was trying to do was to protect toddlers from guns and so they wanted people with guns to safely store them. And the court didn't accept that reasonable regulation, but they've accepted many others. So I see no conflict between saving people's lives and defending the Second Amendment."[1]
    • In an interview with The Huffington Post on June 15, 2016, Clinton discussed the Orlando shooter and restricting access to guns for individuals on the no-fly list. Clinton said, “He was investigated three times by the FBI, and it is important that we take into account the easy access to these weapons of war. They should not be on our street. And it is something that we have got to address. And it is not only blocking suspected terrorists from buying guns. It is clear that if you are too dangerous to fly on a plane, you are too dangerous to buy a gun. And we have got to tighten up our provisions.”[2]
    • During a speech at the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center on June 13, 2016, Clinton said that there should be tighter regulations governing who can purchase guns. “I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets and we may have our disagreements about gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few essential things. If the FBI is watching you for a suspected terrorist link, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked,” she said.[3][4]
    • Clinton participated in a panel discussion of gun violence in New York on April 11, 2016. She challenged Bernie Sanders’ position on gun control and gun safety in rural Vermont. She said, “Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont.” She continued, “So this is not, 'Oh, you know, I live in a rural state, we don’t have these problems. … It’s easy to cross borders. Criminals, domestic abusers, traffickers, people who are dangerously mentally ill — they cross borders, too. And sometimes they do it to get the guns they use. This has to become a voting issue for those of us who want to save lives.”[5]
    • On March 27, 2016, The New York Daily News published an op-ed by Clinton on gun control reform. In addition to calling for the repeal of gun industry liability protections, implementing comprehensive background checks, and closing the Charleston loophole, Clinton also addressed Donald Trump’s and Ted Cruz’s positions on gun control.[6]
    • At the seventh Democratic debate on March 6, 2016, Clinton discussed holding firearms distributors legally responsible for how their product is used: “I also believe, so strongly Gene (ph), that giving immunity to gunmakers and sellers was a terrible mistake. Because it removed any accountability from the makers and the sellers. And it also disrupted what was a very promising legal theory, to try to get makers to do more to make guns safer for example. To try to give sellers more accountability for selling guns when they shouldn’t have. So that is an issue that Senator Sanders and I differ on, I voted against giving them immunity, but I think we should very seriously move to repeal that and go back to making sure gun makers and sellers are like any other business. They can be held accountable.”[7]
    • The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence praised Hillary Clinton’s commitment to gun reform on February 3, 2016. President Dan Gross said, “Hillary Clinton is not only a long-time champion of the life-saving Brady law, she has made gun violence prevention a centerpiece of her campaign.” He added, “Bernie Sanders didn’t even mention the epidemic of gun violence last night, perhaps because – after voting against the Brady Bill five times and for PLCAA [Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act] twice – he has been on the wrong side of this issue for so long.”[8]
    • After President Obama announced his executive actions to prevent gun violence, Clinton, on January 5, 2016, tweeted: “Thank you, @POTUS, for taking a crucial step forward on gun violence. Our next president has to build on that progress—not rip it away.”[9]
    • In an MSNBC interview January 5, 2016, Clinton said, “There needs to be a rival organization to the NRA [National Rifle Association] of responsible gun owners who know that their hunting rights, their shooting rights, their collection rights … all of that is not going to be affected. So I’m going to keep beating the drum, and I’m delighted that the president announced the actions he did today.”[10]
    • During a speech at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis on December 15, 2015, Clinton proposed instituting gun control measures to keep potential terrorists from purchasing guns. She said, "Terrorists use guns to kill Americans. I think we should make it harder for them from to do that. ...It defies common sense that Republicans in Congress refuse to make it harder for potential terrorists to buy guns."[11]
    • On December 6, 2015, Clinton criticized Liberty University President Jerry Falwell for saying “that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in and killed them.” Falwell later clarified that he meant terrorists, not all Muslims. Clinton said, “This is the kind of deplorable, not only hateful, response to a legitimate security issue but it is giving aid and comfort to ISIS and other radical jihadists.”[12]
    • While discussing the shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood and the terrorist attacks in Paris at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner on November 29, 2015, Clinton criticized Republicans for not considering gun control measures. She said, “This is truly unbelievable, that after what we’ve seen in Paris and other places, Republicans will not bring up a bill that will prohibit anyone on the no-fly list from buying a gun in America. If you are too dangerous to fly in America, you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America. How many more Americans need to die before we take action?”[13]
    • Clinton's campaign released an ad November 3, 2015, that called for increased gun control laws and promising to make the issue a central part of her campaign that can compete with the National Rifle Association. The ad came as she has sought to use the issue to distinguish herself from Bernie Sanders.[14]
    Hillary Clinton gun control ad, November 3, 2015
    • During the first Democratic debate, October 13, 2015, Clinton criticized Sanders for voting against the gun control law known as the Brady bill. Clinton said, “Senator Sanders did vote five times against the Brady bill. Since it was passed, more than 2 million prohibited purchases have been prevented. He also did vote, as he said, 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 to me that he was going to give immunity to the only industry in America. Everybody else has to be accountable, but not the gun manufacturers. And we need to stand up and say: Enough of that. We're not going to let it continue.”[15] [16]
    • In a town hall on October 7, 2015, Clinton compared the National Rifle Association (NRA) to Iranians and communists. “The NRA tries to keep gun owners — the ones who are members — really upset all the time so they can keep collecting their money, because they tell them they’re the only thing that’s going to stop the black helicopters from landing in the front yard and people’s guns being seized. That’s the argument they make. And it works with some people and it has turned a lot of people into absolutists themselves,” she said.[17]
    • According to NPR in October 2015, Clinton's gun control platform included “pledging to act through executive action to close the gun-show loophole, tightening Internet gun sales, if Congress doesn't act, repealing a law that shields gun manufacturers from certain lawsuits, closing the ‘Charleston loophole,’ [and] prohibiting domestic abusers from being able to buy and possess firearms.”[18]
    • After two Virginia journalists were murdered on live television on August 26, 2015, Clinton pledged to address gun violence. "We have got to do something about gun violence in America. I will take it on. There are many people who face it and know it, but then turn away because it’s hard. It’s a very political, difficult issue in America, but I believe we are smart enough, we are compassionate enough, to figure out how to balance the legitimate Second Amendment rights with preventive measures and control measures so that whatever motivated this murderer, who eventually took his own life, we will not see more deaths — needless, senseless deaths,” Clinton said at a campaign stop in Iowa. She added, “I want to reiterate how important it is to not let yet another terrible instance go by without trying to do something more to prevent this incredible killing that is stalking our country.”[19][20]
    • On June 18, 2015, the day after the Charleston church shooting, Clinton said, "How many innocent people in our country -- from little children, church members, to movie theater attendees -- how many people do we need to see cut down before we act? So as we mourn and as our hearts break a little more, and as we send this message of solidarity that we will not forsake those who have been victimized by gun violence, this time we have to find answers together."[21]
    • According to the New York Daily News, in 2009 Clinton "called for a new assault weapon ban in the U.S. on Thursday in hopes of cutting off arms flowing to Mexican drug gangs."[22]
    • During her 2008 presidential campaign, Clinton positioned herself as supportive of gun rights. During a speech she said, “I disagree with Senator Obama’s assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about immigration or trade simply out of frustration."[23]
    • In 2006, the National Rifle Association gave Clinton an "F" rating.[24]

    Democratic Party Tim Kaine

    caption
    • During the vice presidential debate on October 4, 2016, moderator Elaine Quijano asked Kaine to respond to a question about law enforcement and race relations. In his answer, Kaine also addressed gun ownership and gun control. He said, "I'm a gun-owner. I'm a strong Second Amendment supporter. But I've got a lot of scar tissue, because when I was governor of Virginia, there was a horrible shooting at Virginia Tech, and we learned that through that painful situation that gaps in the background record check system should have been closed and it could have prevented that crime, and so we're going to work to do things like close background record checks. And if we do, we won't have the tragedies that we did."[27]
    • Kaine supported and joined the sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on June 22, 2016, aimed at forcing a vote on gun control measures. Kaine described the second morning of the sit-in on CNN: "It was pretty amazing. They had shut the cameras off. They had shut the microphones off. And we were sitting in." Kaine also said, "It was a real team-building exercise. We felt the same way when we did the filibuster in the Senate last week. We went on the floor to say it’s time for meaningful reform because we cared about the issue, but what we found was being on the floor together made us feel stronger, made us feel like we were doing what our constituents want us to do and made us feel like we were inching closer to the day when we break the grip of gun manufacturers on Congress and embrace reasonable safety reforms."[28]
    • On June 15, 2016, during a filibuster on the Senate floor that lasted more than 15 hours, Kaine pushed for legislative action to combat gun violence. Reflecting on how Virginia has been affected by gun violence, Kaine said, “We’ve got scar tissue in my Commonwealth, we’ve got scar tissue in this country and we’ve got scar tissue personally. And after every one of these instances, we resolve to be better, we resolve to do more. Yet why do we continue to be passive?” He continued, “In this body we don’t have to be heroes, we just have to not be bystanders. That is all we have to do, stop being bystanders and cast a vote.”[29]
      • Kaine expressed support for a "comprehensive approach to curbing gun violence, including the expansion of mental health services, background record checks prior to gun purchases and responsible limits on combat-style weapons and high-capacity magazines."[29]
    • Discussing gun safety measures and the National Rifle Association (NRA) in an interview on MSNBC on June 15, 2016, Kaine said, "[T]his is all about lack of backbone. I live in the state where the NRA has its headquarters. And every time I run they give me an F and they spend millions of dollars and they campaign against me. I've never lost a race. I could lose the next one. But if they were that strong, I would have lost one already. You've got to stand up and say the Second Amendment is like the First Amendment. You guys are big believers in the First Amendment. You're journalists. But you can't just casually libel and slander people without there being a consequence. Every right in the Constitution is subject to some reasonable rules and regulation. Most of gun owners in this country, most NRA members support background record checks, and so we need to do that so we can keep guns out of the hands of people who are going to use them to produce carnage either on others or on themselves."[30]
    • Read more of Tim Kaine's public statements on 2016 campaign issues.

    Republican ticket

    Republican Party Donald Trump

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    • Donald Trump tweeted on June 15, 2016, that he planned to meet with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to discuss “not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns.” The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action responded in a statement that it would be “happy to meet with Donald Trump” and that it “believes that terrorists should not be allowed to purchase or possess firearms, period.”[31][32]
    • The National Rifle Association (NRA) endorsed Donald Trump on May 20, 2016. Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA, said in a statement, “If Hillary Clinton gets the opportunity to replace Antonin Scalia with an anti-gun Supreme Court justice, we will lose the individual right to keep a gun in the home for self-defense. … So the choice for gun owners in this election is clear. And that choice is Donald Trump.” During his speech at the NRA-ILA forum in Kentucky on May 20, 2016, Trump made a similar allegation, stating that Clinton “wants to abolish the Second Amendment.”[33]
      • Clinton responded to Trump on May 21, 2016, calling his policy to eliminate gun-free zones in schools “dangerous.” She continued, “Parents, teachers and schools should have the right to keep guns out of classrooms. Just like Donald Trump does at many of his hotels by the way.”[34]
      • Trump partially denied the charge on May 22, 2016, during an interview. “I don’t want to have guns in classrooms. Although, in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms,” he said.[35]
      • Trump clarified on May 23, 2016, that he supported “school resource officers” and trained teachers carrying guns in schools. He said, “The problem with gun-free zones is it's like offering up candy to bad people. They hear gun-free zones and they go in there with their guns blazing." He maintained his criticism of gun-free zones, but backed away from his call to eliminate all gun-free zones in schools. Instead he said, they would only be eliminated "in some cases."[36]
    • During the sixth Republican presidential primary debate, on January 14, 2016, Donald Trump discusses his position on the Second Amendment. He said “I am a Second amendment person. If we had guns in California on the other side where the bullets went in the different direction, you wouldn't have 14 or 15 people dead right now. If even in Paris, if they had guns on the other side, going in the opposite direction, you wouldn't have 130 people plus dead. So the answer is no and 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. We have to protect our 2nd amendment and you cannot do this and certainly what Barack Obama was doing with the executive order. He doesn't want to get people together, the old-fashioned way, where you get Congress. You get the Congress, you get the Senate, you get together, you do legislation. He just writes out an executive order. Not supposed to happen that way.”[37]
    • Trump said during a campaign rally in Vermont on January 7, 2016, night that he would end gun-free zones at schools and military sites. "I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools — you have to — and on military bases on my first day. It gets signed my first day,” Trump pledged. He added, "You know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? That's bait."[38]
    • In an interview on CNN on January 4, 2016, Trump said of President Obama’s use of executive authority to expand background checks on gun buyers, “Pretty soon you won't be able to get guns. It's another step in the way of not getting guns.”[39]
    • Trump said in a statement to Breitbart on November 18, 2015, that concealed carry permit holders have an obligation to be armed. He wrote, “Carrying a weapon is not always feasible or appropriate. However, given the increased tensions that are the result of continued, escalating terrorism around the world, more legitimately armed individuals on the streets is a positive outcome. … I will carry more often than I have in the past, and I am sure other concealed permit holders will do the same. Do we have an obligation to carry? The answer is ‘yes,’ but we must do it in such a way as to raise serious doubts in the minds of those who might be considering violence in America. Deterring violence is far better than dealing with the aftermath of an act of terror. Less blood, more security. That is what will make America great again.”[40]
    • Trump said on November 14, 2015, that strict gun control laws in France led to more deaths in the Paris terrorist attacks. “You can say what you want, but if they had guns -- if our people had guns, if they were allowed to carry -- it would have been a much, much different situation. I hear it all the time, you know. You look at certain cities that have the highest violence, the highest problem with guns and shootings and killings -- Chicago is an example, toughest gun laws in the United States, nothing but problems. So our country better get smart because we're not smart right now,” he said.[41]
    • At the third Republican debate, Trump said that he opposes gun-free zones. Trump noted, "I feel that the gun-free zones and, you know, when you say that, that's target practice for the sickos and for the mentally ill. That's target. They look around for gun-free zones. You know, we could give you another example -- the Marines, the Army, these wonderful six soldiers that were killed. Two of them were among the most highly decorated -- they weren't allowed on a military base to have guns. And somebody walked in and shot them, killed them. If they had guns, he wouldn't be around very long. I can tell you, there wouldn't have been much damage. So, I think gun-free zones are a catastrophe. They're a feeding frenzy for sick people."[42]
    • In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on October 11, 2015, Trump said he “sometimes” carries a gun. “I feel much better being armed,” he said.[43]
    • Trump suggested on October 4, 2015, that a mass shooting at an Oregon community college would have had fewer casualties if more people were armed. He said, “I can make the case that if there were guns in that room other than [the shooter's], fewer people would have died. Fewer people would have been so horribly injured.” He also pointed to mental illness and “copycat” behavior as causes of such violent incidents.[44]
    • In an April 2015 interview with Breitbart, Trump said, "It is so important that we maintain the Second Amendment and that we maintain it strongly. And one of the main reasons is because the good people, the upstanding people, follow laws and norms but the bad ones don’t. So if the Second Amendment weren’t there to protect our rights and someone tampered with them, the good people would be affected but the bad people wouldn’t care–they couldn’t care less. It is absolutely imperative that we maintain the Second Amendment in its strongest form." Trump also pointed to Chicago and New York to note "the areas that are most heavily restricted have the most crime."[45]
    • Trump suggested the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo's Paris office could have had better outcomes if some of the victims had guns.[45][46]
    • In 2000, Trump declared in his book, The America We Deserve, "I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun. With today’s Internet technology we should be able to tell within 72-hours if a potential gun owner has a record." Trump also suggested it was wrong that Democrats "want to confiscate all guns" and Republicans "refuse even limited restrictions."[47]
    • Read more of Donald Trump's public statements 2016 campaign issues.

    Republican Party Mike Pence

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    • In 2014, Mike Pence signed into law a bill allowing individuals with concealed carry permits to keep a gun in their car while in school parking lots. During an interview with Real Clear Politics, Chris Wallace asked Pence, "[D]o we really need guns closer to schools?" Pence replied, "I have strongly supported the right to keep and bear arms. I truly believe that firearms in the hands of law abiding citizen's [sic] makes our families and our communities more safe, not less safe. And the bill that we just signed here in Indiana really was a common sense reform. We actually have parents that had a permit to conceal and carry a weapon that we're finding themselves guilty of a felony just by dropping their kids off to school. So we just—we made a modest change, a common sense change in Indiana law. And I strongly supported it."[49]
    • Mike Pence co-sponsored HR 822—the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011—which proposed authorizing "a person who is carrying a valid, government-issued identification document containing that person's photograph and a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state, and who is not prohibited from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm under federal law, to possess or carry a concealed handgun (other than a machine gun or destructive device) in another state in accordance with the restrictions of that state."[50]
    • In 2005, Pence voted for S 397—the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act—which "Prohibits a qualified civil liability action from being brought in any state or federal court against a manufacturer or seller of a firearm, ammunition, or a component of a firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or against a trade association of such manufacturers or sellers, for damages, punitive damages, injunctive or declaratory relief, abatement, restitution, fines, penalties, or other relief resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm." It became law on October 26, 2005.[51]
    • Read more of Mike Pence's public statements on 2016 campaign issues.

    Green ticket

    Green Party Jill Stein

    Jill-Stein-circle.png
    • Vox published an interview with Jill Stein on September 14, 2016, covering a range of policy issues, including immigration, student debt, laws governing guns and firearms, climate change, and foreign relations.[52]
    • Stein discussed gun confiscation programs, saying, “It’d be hard to do that at this point. So, we establish background checks and assault weapons ban as a floor. And we add to that stripping the gun manufacturers of their immunity — so currently they have immunity right now from lawsuits holding them accountable for dangerous weapons, and for putting those weapons in the hands of dangerous people. That’s another tool that should be brought to bear that does not have issues with the Second Amendment."
    • She mentioned Norway as one model for how to get individuals to give up their guns, saying, "Norway really moved forward with gun control by persuading people to give up their guns, and in order to do that you need to have the proper things in place. So in Norway, among other countries, police have also demilitarized and go without guns. Not in all areas of Norway, but in many. And, interestingly, in those districts where police are not armed, they are actually safer. It’s not only the public that is safer but the police are safer because they cease to become targets. I think we need to begin to move in that direction, and I do believe as a society that we need to disarm because we are now an armed garrison state, and everyone is in the crossfire right now — black lives are in the target hairs, and police are also in the target hairs. We’ve become a culture of open carry — not just guns but assault weapons and sniper rifles."
    • In a December 2013 interview with RT, Stein discussed the connection between gun violence and culture. She said, "We have about 100 times the rate of gun homicides and violent gun crimes relative to many countries of Western Europe and we should not be in the business of normalizing violence. ... It’s clear there is a relationship between gun violence and economic violence and poverty, and racial disparities and economic disparities. And the more we become an unjust society, the more we are at risk for continuing gun violence and potentially growing gun violence."[53]
    • Stein also criticized the involvement of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in politics. She said, "People don’t trust government because government has been bought and paid for by powerful special interests like the NRA. And the NRA is actually doing a disservice and fails to represent the interests of ordinary gun owners because it has become dominated by big industry. And its policies essentially reflect a marketing strategy to keep selling guns."[53]
    • In a third party presidential debate in October 2012, Stein said, "We certainly need an assault weapons ban, but we need more than that. There are some 260 people every day who are injured or killed by gun violence, so it's very important that we ban assault weapons, for starters, but there are other steps that need to be taken quickly. Local communities need to be able to regulate guns, as needed, to deal with their violence. So, we need to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. We need background checks, so that the mentally ill are not possessing and using guns. And we need to end the gun show loopholes, as well, because there's far too much violence from guns, which is not needed."[54]

    Green Party Ajamu Baraka

    captin
    • In an article about police violence and the equal value of all life, Baraka wrote, "We know that if Obama and the general public in the U.S. really believed that all lives had equal value that belief would be reflected in behavior. For example, moral consistency would compel Obama to take a position in opposition to the Israelis who kill and maim Palestinians on a daily basis. And for those in the general public who pretend to oppose violence and call for gun control, they would also have to condemn the arms merchants from the U.S. who make the U.S. the number one arms dealer on earth. They would have to oppose war and demand peaceful negotiations to end the loss of innocent life in conflicts that their government created around the world. They would have demanded long ago that the Department of Justice become more aggressive in demonstrating that police officers who kill unarmed black and brown folks would face some kind of “justice.”[56]
    • Referencing the shooting of Dallas police officers on July 7, 2016, Baraka wrote, "The state will use the attacks in Dallas to attempt to silence the voices of those who continue to oppose the systematic slaughter of black and brown people by the police across the country. Barack Obama, the hypocrite-in-chief who cold-bloodily decides who lives and dies every Tuesday in his illegal drone war, proclaims that we need more love and peace. He uses this incident to increase his calls to disarm the people in the form of gun control. But Obama and all of those who make gratuitous declarations of commitments to “love,” non-violence and rule of law when police are killed, strangely don’t seem to have the same level of moral indignation in response to the almost weekly stories of a black woman or man being murdered by a cop, even when the murder is caught on video."[56]
    • Read more about Ajamu Baraka.

    Libertarian ticket

    Libertarian Party Gary Johnson

    Gary-Johnson-(New Mexico)-circle.png
    • During an interview on June 27, 2016, with WIBC’s Tony Katz, Gary Johnson discussed a proposal backed by Democrats to prohibit individuals on the No-Fly List from purchasing firearms. Johnson said, “Well, they’re wrong because that list contains active members of Congress. That’s a list that contains you and I; it’s a list prone to error. If this is a conversation about improving the quality of that list, then ‘yes.’ Is it a conversation on how the appeals process might be (improved)—meaning you’re on the list, and you want to appeal that list because you have a need for self-protection? Self-protection doesn’t mean you’re going to buy the gun and use it, it means you’re going to buy the gun—and your ex-spouse who’s abusive knows that – and all of a sudden that’s a huge deterrent. Johnson also discussed the failures of Congress. He said, “First of all, Congress should be engaged. Congress wants to abdicate every responsibility that they’re supposed to have, and because of that, they never come under the scrutiny that should go along with their offices. They don’t do anything; they don’t submit any budgets. They just want to hold office.”[57]
    • In an interview with Reason on June 14, 2016, Johnson said that he believed the outcome of the Orlando shooting would have been “less horrific” if some of the clubgoers were armed. “I understand how so many people can believe that if you restrict this kind of weapon you can prevent this kind of incident. But there's just no evidence whatsoever to suggest that it makes us any safer, and in fact restricting guns makes things less safe, that's the camp that I'm in,” Johnson said.[58]
    • On January 19, 2016, in an interview with The Telegraph, Johnson discussed guns. He said, “I am in the camp that if you outlaw guns only the criminals are going to have guns. I supported permitting the concealed carry of handguns in New Mexico. I believe there is a lot less violence in the parking lot, as they say, because the potential perpetrator of a theft or an assault is thinking twice because someone might be carrying a gun. Restrictions on gun ownership will only encourage outlaws to have heavy ammunition and high calibre weapons."[59]
    • In May 2013, Johnson opposed a Colorado law restricting ammunition magazines. He said in a press release, "Placing an arbitrary limit on the capacity of a gun magazine is an unacceptable restriction on the rights of gun owners, manufacturers and sellers, and I am anxious to help give voters an opportunity to restore those rights. … Restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens does not make anyone safer. Rather, it simply empowers those who have no regard for the law and who wish to do us harm."[60]
    • Johnson wrote an op-ed in The Daily Caller on February 6, 2013, to defend gun ownership under the Constitution. He argued, "Whether it is the First Amendment right to speech or the religious freedoms granted in the Constitution, we may all find the exercise of rights to be uncomfortable, painful, and occasionally even harmful. But our nation is founded — uniquely so — on the idea that individual rights are to be protected and shielded from government control. And just like the rest of the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment doesn’t give anyone permission to commit murder. That is covered by a lot of other, perfectly constitutional, laws. Let us hope, and let us work, to make sure that the politicians don’t decide to make us 'safer' from gun violence by taking away even more of our freedoms."[61]

    Libertarian Party Bill Weld

    William-Weld-circle.png
    • On August 10, 2016, Weld, a former U.S. attorney for Massachusetts who also led the Justice Department’s criminal division, said Donald Trump crossed a line when he said, "Hillary wants to abolish—essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know." In a statement provided to The Washington Times, Weld said, "If this were a remark by a non-candidate, and she was in office, it would definitely be investigated as a threat against the president, and I will say so.”[63]
    • In an interview with Revolt.tv on August 7, 2016, Amrit Singh asked, "What can we do to control this flow of guns, if anything?" Weld replied, "You know, you shouldn’t have anybody who is on a terrorist watch list be able to buy any gun, at all. Uh, I’ve called for a task force to focus on this. … When I used to prosecute organized crime cases in the 80’s, we had specialized units who specialized on that, putting together information from all kinds of sources, you know, hot lines, whistle blowers, and it was very effective. We were able to eliminate the top three echelons of organized crimes in the United States. …so I think that’s what we need to do on the terrorism, ISIS front."[64]
    • In the same Revolt.tv interview, Amrit Singh said, "Let’s talk about one more issue that is important to our audience and that is guns. The shooting, the massacre at the Pulse night club in Orlando was at the hands of someone who had access to an AR-15, a semi-automatic assault rifle. Should those type of weapons be available to people?" Weld answered, "The five-shot rifle, that’s a standard military rifle. The problem is if you attach a clip to it so it can fire more shells and if you remove the pin so that it becomes an automatic weapon. And those are independent criminal offenses. That’s when they become essentially a weapon of mass destruction. The problem of handguns is probably even worse than the AR-15."[64]
    • Read more about Bill Weld.

    Recent news

    The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 2016 presidential candidates on laws governing guns and firearms. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

    2016 presidential candidates on laws governing guns and firearms - Google News

    See also

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ The Washington Post, "The final Trump-Clinton debate transcript, annotated," October 19, 2016
    2. ↑ The Huffington Post, "Transcript: Hillary Clinton’s Interview With The Huffington Post, " June 15, 2016
    3. ↑ ABC News, "Hillary Clinton: Those Under FBI Scrutiny ‘Shouldn’t Be Able to Just Go Buy a Gun’," June 13, 2016
    4. ↑ TIME, "Read Hillary Clinton’s Speech About the Orlando Shooting," June 13, 2016
    5. ↑ Politico, "Clinton blasts Sanders' 'rural state' explanation on guns," April 11, 2016
    6. ↑ New York Daily News, "Take dead aim against gun violence: Hillary Clinton urges closing loopholes that cost lives," March 27, 2016
    7. ↑ The New York Times, "Transcript of the Democratic Presidential Debate in Flint, Mich.," March 6, 2016
    8. ↑ The Guardian, "Hillary Clinton stresses gun control as 'big difference' of Democratic race," February 3, 2016
    9. ↑ USA Today, "Republican 2016 candidates bash Obama's gun plan," January 5, 2016
    10. ↑ The Guardian, "Hillary Clinton urges moderate gun owners to take on the NRA," January 5, 2016
    11. ↑ NBC News, "Hillary Clinton Unveils Plan to Stop Spread of ISIS," December 15, 2015
    12. ↑ The Huffington Post, "Hillary Clinton Accuses Jerry Falwell Jr. Of Aiding ISIS," December 6, 2015
    13. ↑ The Hill, "Hillary slams Republicans on guns, abortion after Planned Parenthood attack," November 29, 2015
    14. ↑ Politico, "New Clinton ad focuses on gun control," November 3, 2015
    15. ↑ The Washington Post, "The CNN Democratic debate transcript, annotated," October 13, 2015
    16. ↑ Politifact, "Hillary Clinton: Bernie Sanders voted against Brady bill five times," October 13, 2015
    17. ↑ The Hill, "Hillary compares NRA to Iranians, communists," October 8, 2015
    18. ↑ NPR, "Hillary Clinton's Gun Proposals Expose Democratic Divide," October 5, 2015
    19. ↑ Vatiery, "Obama, Hillary Clinton Speak Out on Gun Violence After Virginia TV Shootings," August 26, 2015
    20. ↑ ABC News, "Hillary Clinton Pledges to Take on Gun Violence," August 26, 2015
    21. ↑ The Washington Post, "Hillary Clinton calls on nation to consider ‘hard truths’ about church massacre," June 18, 2015
    22. ↑ NY Daily News, “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's call for assault weapon ban in U.S. gets blasted by gun lobby," March 26, 2009
    23. ↑ New York Times, “Clinton Portrays Herself as a Pro-Gun Churchgoer," April 12, 2008
    24. ↑ National Review, “Second Thoughts," November 2, 2006
    25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    26. ↑ Democratic Party, "The 2016 Democratic Party Platform," accessed August 25, 2016
    27. ↑ The Washington Post, "The Mike Pence vs. Tim Kaine vice-presidential debate transcript, annotated," October 5, 2016
    28. ↑ Vienna Patch, "Gun Control Sit-In: Virginia's Democratic House, Senate Members Support Protest," June 23, 2016
    29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Tim Kaine United States Senator for Virginia, "Press Release: Kaine During Filibuster: We have to Stop Being Bystanders to the Carnage of Gun Violence," June 16,2016
    30. ↑ Media Matters, "Sen. Tim Kaine Debunks Media Myth Of NRA's Power To Oust Progressive Politicians," June 15, 2016
    31. ↑ Newsweek, "Donald Trump to Discuss Gun Control Changes with NRA," June 15, 2016
    32. ↑ NRA-ILA, "NRA Statement on Terror Watchlists," June 15, 2016
    33. ↑ Fox News, "Trump wins NRA endorsement, blasts Clinton on gun stance at forum," May 20, 2016
    34. ↑ ABC News, "Hillary Clinton Fires Back at Donald Trump for NRA Remarks," May 21, 2016
    35. ↑ The Huffington Post, "Donald Trump Doesn’t Want Guns In Classrooms, Except When He Does," May 22, 2016
    36. ↑ CNN, "Donald Trump clarifies position on guns in schools," May 23, 2016
    37. ↑ The Washington Post, "6th Republican debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant," January 14, 2016
    38. ↑ Business Insider, "TRUMP: 'I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools' my first day in the White House," January 7, 2016
    39. ↑ CNN Politics, "Donald Trump predicts 'you won't be able to get guns'," January 4, 2016
    40. ↑ Breitbart, "Exclusive: Donald Trump Says Concealed Carry Permit Holders ‘Have an Obligation to Carry’," November 18, 2015
    41. ↑ The Washington Post, "Donald Trump says tough gun control laws in Paris contributed to tragedy," November 14, 2015
    42. ↑ The Washington Post, "The third Republican debate transcript, annotated," October 28, 2015
    43. ↑ Face the Nation, "Donald Trump: 'I feel much better being armed'," October 11, 2015
    44. ↑ Huffington Post, "Donald Trump: More Guns Could Have Stopped Oregon Massacre," October 4, 2015
    45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Breitbart, "Exclusive–Donald Trump: We must maintain 2nd Amendment 'in its strongest form'," April 11, 2015
    46. ↑ The Washington Times, "Miller: Donald Trump's guns," November 14, 2012
    47. ↑ Trump, Donald. (2000). The America We Deserve. Los Angeles, CA: Renaissance Books. (page 102)
    48. ↑ Republican Party, "The 2016 Republican Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
    49. ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Gov. Mike Pence On Gun Control, Ukraine, His Political Future," April 27, 2014
    50. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.822," accessed April 2, 2015
    51. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.397," accessed April 2, 2015
    52. ↑ Vox, "A conversation with Jill Stein: what the Green Party candidate believes," September 14, 2016
    53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 RT, "Jill Stein: US faces ‘political problem’ in tackling violent gun crime," December 15, 2013
    54. ↑ Democracy Now, "Expanding the Debate with Third-Party Candidates Jill Stein, Virgil Goode, Rocky Anderson," October 17, 2012
    55. ↑ Green Party, "The 2016 Green Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
    56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Black Agenda Report, "We Must Resist Attempts to Silence Our Voices on Police Violence,"July 12, 2016
    57. ↑ WIBC, "Gov. Gary Johnson Talks Guns, Congress, And The Debate Stage," June 27, 2016
    58. ↑ Reason, "Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson Says Gun Restrictions Make Us Less Safe," June 14, 2016
    59. ↑ The Telegraph, "Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson says time is right for 'the party of principle' in the White House," January 19, 2016
    60. ↑ The Denver Post, "Former Gov. Gary Johnson joins effort to repeal Colorado gun law," May 30, 2013
    61. ↑ The Daily Caller, "In its pursuit of ‘safety,’ the government is sacrificing freedom," February 6, 2013
    62. ↑ Libertarian Party, "The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
    63. ↑ The Washington Times, "Libertarian VP nominee Bill Weld: Trump crossed a line with gun comments," August 10, 2016
    64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Hot Air, "Bill Weld’s “shouldn’t have anyone who’s on a terrorist watchlist be able to buy any gun ” comment isn’t as simple as it sounds," August 7, 2016
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