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A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 3 OcTOber 2019

2020 Democrats put focus on guns amid impeachment fever

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE and sic festival below, killing 58 debate among gun con-
MICHELLE L. PRICE people. The forum is being trol activists over manda-
Associated Press hosted by MSNBC, March tory buybacks.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Demo- for Our Lives and Giffords, Ahead of Wednesday’s fo-
cratic presidential candi- the advocacy organization rum, Biden released a de-
dates reiterated their call set up by former Arizona tailed gun policy plan em-
for gun control Wednes- congresswoman Gabby phasizing his role as a lead-
day and urged Americans Giffords, who was shot and ing senator in adopting a
to keep up the fight for gravely wounded during a background check law in
change, sidestepping the constituent meeting in 2011 1993 and a ban on certain
issue of impeachment in in Tucson. semi-automatic weapons
Washington and whether it Giffords opened the event as part of a sweeping 1994
will divert lawmakers. with brief remarks calling crime law. That ban ex-
At a gun policy forum in for Democrats, Republi- pired after 10 years.
Nevada, Cory Booker said cans and independents to Besides renewing that ban
the National Rifle Asso- come together and fight and including high-capac-
ciation and the corporate for change. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., ity magazines, Biden's pro-
speaks during a gun safety forum Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019, in
gun lobby are not the only “Stopping gun violence Las Vegas. posals include an outright
forces stopping progress on takes courage. The cour- Associated Press ban on online sales of guns
gun control. age to do what’s right. The and ammunition, along
“Change never comes courage of new ideas,” Buttigieg on Wednesday goes beyond the proposals with a voluntary buyback
from Washington. It comes Giffords said. said it’s not true that the of most other Democratic program for the military-
to Washington by Ameri- In addition to Booker, the 2nd Amendment allowing candidates, who have style guns. Biden doesn't
cans that demand it,” the other candidates partici- the right to bear arms pre- focused on expanding offer a price tag for his vol-
New Jersey senator said. pating in the forum are vents the government from background checks and untary buyback proposal
He added later that “Every former Vice President Joe banning certain kinds of banning the future manu- but proposes a $900 mil-
one of us in America, right Biden; South Bend, Indiana, weapons. facture and sale of certain lion, eight-year grant pro-
now, by doing nothing, we Mayor Pete Buttigieg; for- “In America, it is already high-powered weapons gram for evidence-based
are implicated in this. .... mer Obama Housing Sec- the case that, anybody, — but not making it illegal intervention programs in 40
We all have to take respon- retary Julián Castro; Cali- as far as I know, can have to possess those already in cities with high homicide
sibility.” fornia Sen. Kamala Harris; a slingshot. And nobody the market. rates. The idea reflects a
The forum _ located about Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobu- can have a nuclear weap- Castro said Wednesday point Biden and some oth-
2 miles from the Las Vegas char; former Texas Rep. on,” he said. “If you think that he’s open to hearing er candidates make often
Strip, the site of the deadli- Beto O'Rourke; Massachu- about it, that means we arguments for a mandato- when campaigning: Mass
est mass shooting in mod- setts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; have already decided, as ry gun buyback, “but I think shootings making head-
ern American history _ was and businessman Andrew a society, consistent with there are 15 things _ differ- lines account for only a
held as an effort to keep Yang. our Constitution, within ent things _ that we can small fraction of U.S. gun
gun violence front and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sand- the boundaries of the 2nd do,” and he said there’s a deaths.q
center of the debate and ers was expected to at- Amendment, that there’s a
give 2020 presidential can- tend, but he ended up line.”
didates a chance to show- undergoing a heart proce- Warren echoed a key
case their plans to combat dure for a blocked artery. theme of her campaign
the epidemic. Negotiations His campaign said he was when she said inaction on
between President Donald canceling appearances gun policy is a symptom of
Trump's administration and “until further notice.” corruption in Washington.
lawmakers have halted O'Rourke recast his cam- "This is a fundamental ques-
over background checks paign around gun control tion about who Washing-
legislation passed by the after the August shoot- ton works for, and the an-
Democratic-controlled ing in his hometown of El swer for decades now has
House, an effort that faced Paso, Texas, where a gun- been Washington works
long odds even before the man targeting Hispanics great for the gun industry _
impeachment inquiry be- killed 22 people. O'Rourke it just doesn’t work great for
gan. even vowed to ban assault everyone else in America."
Booker was among nine weapons, saying at a de- A challenge for candidates
White House hopefuls bate in Houston in Septem- is to distinguish themselves
to speak at the forum ber, "Hell, yes, we're gonna on the issue. O'Rourke
Wednesday, almost two take your AR-15, your AK- stands out with his call for
years to the day after a 47, and we're not going to a mandatory federal buy-
man rained gunfire from allow it to be used against back program for military-
the window of a high-rise your fellow Americans any- style weapons used in
hotel onto a country mu- more." many mass shootings. That