Sanders, O'Malley Follow Clinton with Gun Control Proposals for Campaign

Yesterday I shared news via National Review's Jim Geraghty that Hillary Clinton was unveiling gun control proposals for the campaign that included the usual so-called "universal" background checks, so-called "gun violence" restraining orders, and repealing the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.  Later in the day the Wall Street Journal reported that Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley followed suit.

Mr. Sanders, who has a mixed record on backing gun-control measures, laid out a set of proposals on Monday afternoon that have considerable support among Democrats, including Mrs. Clinton. They include requiring background checks for sales by unlicensed dealers at gun shows, banning assault-style semi-automatic weapons and providing better mental-health care.

While Clinton has tried to drive a wedge between Sanders and his supporters because of his past mixed record on Second Amendment issues, he took the opportunity to remind people he has a "D-" rating from the NRA.  Compared to O'Malley however, Sanders looks like a friend to gun owners:

Another Democrat running for president, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, has the most aggressive set of gun-control proposals. Among other ideas, he would require that every person who buys a gun get a license and be fingerprinted, and he would establish a national gun registry.

“It doesn’t matter who you support in this race—common-sense gun reform is something we should all fight for,” he said in an email to supporters on Monday.

None of the Democratic candidates have talked about how the homicide rate involving guns has dropped dramatically while the number of firearms in the hands of Americans have almost doubled:

Courtesy National Review

On top of that, it was reported by BearingArms.com yesterday that some of the survivors and the family of a victim have responded to Obama's calls for more gun control, saying such proposals would not have stopped last week's attack.

Guns are the easy target for politicians and the gun ban lobby.  No one wants to talk about the  real problem, something that is much harder to address, and that is the fact there are those who will do bad things and not care about the consequences.

Democrat Presidential Candidate O'Malley Calls for Sweeping Gun Control

WMUR 9 reports that Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley will roll out a sweeping gun control plan in New York today:

Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley calls for universal background checks, fingerprint licensing for gun purchases and a rejection of federally mandated concealed carry in a plan he says will "prevent and reduce" gun violence.

His plan, to be unveiled at a gun safety roundtable at Boys and Girls Harbor in New York City, would also ban “assault weapons” and close loopholes he says currently make women vulnerable to gun violence."

According to WMUR, O'Malley also wants to establish a national firearms registry, a mandate that all lost or stolen firearms be reported to law enforcement and a ban on the sale and distribution of modern sporting rifles.  I guess O'Malley doesn't know that Canada, which has less people and had less firearms in the hands of the public than this country, already tried a national registry and scrapped it because of cost.

Hillary Not Backing Down on Gun Control

National Journal has the story here:

Asked what she would do to strengthen gun-control laws across the country, Clinton said the current situation is "way out of balance" and that she is "not backing off of this fight," mentioning the shooting in Charleston that killed nine black churchgoers. "I don't see any conflict between the legitimate protection of Second Amendment rights and protecting people from gun violence from people who should never have guns in the first place," she said.

On another question, about "Stand Your Ground" laws around the country, Clinton said she thought many of those laws need to be "rewritten" and that reaching for a gun has become a "knee-jerk reaction."

"Yes, there is a role in extreme situations to defend yourself and defend your home, but unfortunately what we've seen too much of in the last few years is a spate of people who have reached for a gun before they really figured out what was going on," she said. "They've been much too eager to use that gun. We've seen it with policing and we've seen it with civilians."

The facts don't support Clinton's claim that people are just "too eager to use" their guns.  There are over 100 million gun owners in this country.  We don't see untold numbers of people using them in "knee-jerk" ways to settle arguments or what ever else she may have had in mind when she made that comment.  Clinton and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley have both made gun control a central part of their campaign for the White House.   If you think we've been under attack the last six years, if either one of them wins in 2016, it can only get worse.