Rep. Eric Swalwell and Sen. Kamala Harris named gun control as one of their highest priorities at the first Democratic primary debate. Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand have dedicated policy plans and town halls to gun control.
The big picture: 2020 Democrats have a bigger stake in gun control than they did in 2016, when Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton only briefly addressed the issue in their primary debate. Part of the rising pressure: Two of the top five deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history — in Las Vegas and Texas — happened in 2017, and death tolls from mass shootings are rising.
Policy standouts
Sen. Kamala Harris: If Congress doesn't pass gun reform within 100 days of her potential inauguration, Harris says she would take executive action to institute background checks, require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to revoke the licenses of gun dealers "who violate the law," and ban the importation of assault weapons.
Former tech executive Andrew Yang: Wants to implement a federal background check and federal buyback program, eliminate the gun show loophole, ban high-capacity magazines, and prohibit the manufacture and sale of bump stocks, suppressors, incendiary/exploding ammunition and grenade launcher attachments.
- Yang references smart guns in his policy and says he plans to "invest in innovative technology that would make firearms harder to fire for non-owners of the gun."
- Those who currently own firearms under Yang's plan would be grandfathered in with their existing licenses and receive one-time “Good Gun Owner” tax credits for adhering to additional requirements.
- The gun show loophole refers to a "secondary market" exemption that means private gun sellers without federal licenses do not have to conduct background checks on all buyers, per PolitiFact.
Rep. Eric Swalwell: Wants the government to institute a mandatory buyback for every assault weapon in the U.S. — his proposal would not apply to pistols, shotguns or rifles.
- When Swalwell named his top priority at the first Democratic primary debate, he said: "For Parkland, for Orlando, for every community affected by gun violence — ending gun violence."
Sen. Cory Booker: Proposed a 14-part plan in May calling for a national gun licensing program, which would force Americans to apply for 5-year gun licenses and ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and bump stocks.
Former Vice President Joe Biden: Believes only "smart guns" should be sold, or guns that require "a biometric measure" to pull the trigger. He stressed that "our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the NRA," at the first Democratic debate, and expressed his support for government buybacks.
Rep. Tim Ryan: On debate...