Every Democrat presidential hopeful supports a slew of gun controls but eight in particular actually plan to ban certain guns that law-abiding Americans currently possess.
The positions vary from simply banning certain types of guns to confiscating them via a mandated ban and buyback combo.
Here are the eight Democrats and their positions:
- Cory Booker — Wants to institute a ban on AR-15s and other commonly owned semiautomatic weapons that would include taking the guns away from law-abiding citizens who currently own them. On May 6, 2019, the Washington Examiner quoted Booker telling CNN, “Again, we should have a law that bans these weapons, and we should have a reasonable period in which people can turn in these weapons. Right now we have a nation that allows in streets and communities like mine these weapons that should not exist.”
- Joe Biden — During the June 27, 2019, Democrat debates Biden espoused a confiscatory plan very similar to Booker’s. Breitart News quoted Biden saying, “Folks, look, and I would buy back those weapons. We already started talking about that. We tried to get it done. I think it can be done. And it should be demanded that we do it. And that’s a good expenditure of money.”
- Bernie Sanders — Sanders showed strong support for New Zealand’s ban and mandated buyback of certain semiautomatic rifles. On March 21, 2019–the day after New Zealand’s ban was announced–Breitbart News reported that Bernie called for a similar ban in America.
- Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke — O’Rourke supports an all-out ban on AR-15s and other commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles. On June 26, 2019, he tweeted, “Following the lead of the students marching for their lives, we need to implement universal background checks, pass red flag laws, and keep weapons of war on the battlefield—so they’re not trained against our communities in synagogues and churches, concerts and movie theaters.”
- Kamala Harris — Harris supports renewing the 1994 ban on “assault weapons.” She says as president, she would give Congress 100 days to ban the weapons and if they failed she would executive gun control to ban import of AR-15s and other commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles. On May 15, 2019, she tweeted: “I sponsored the bill to renew the assault weapons ban. We need to do it. But if Congress won’t act, I’ll take executive action as president to ban imports of AR-15-style assault weapons. We can’t afford to wait any longer as these guns flood our country.”
- Julian Castro — Axios reports that Castro supports banning “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines.
- Tulsi Gabbard — Gabbard’s campaign website puts her support for an “assault weapons” front and center. The campaign site also states, “Tulsi has an F-rating from the NRA, a 0% rating by the Hawaii Rifle Association, and a 100% rating by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.”
- Marianne Williamson — Williamson’s campaign website notes her support for “eliminating the sale of assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.