On March 29 The Guardian pointed out that although Hillary Clinton is running on a gun control platform in 2016, she ran against excessive gun control in 2008.
In 2008 Clinton’s opponent was Barack Obama, and she was critical of his hard line gun control positions.
According to The Guardian, Clinton’s 2008 campaign focused on “[running] to the right of Obama on guns, criticizing him for being out of touch with the tens of thousands of Americans who own firearms and use them responsibly.” But this time around, Clinton’s campaign is anchored on a gun control push that seeks to outdo Democrat rival Bernie Sanders in every facet.
For example, Clinton is campaigning on allowing crime victims to sue gun makers and gun sellers for gun crimes. She is pushing universal background checks–which already exist in California, Colorado, Washington state, and Paris–and which have proven impotent to stop determined attackers. She is pushing to extend the instant criminal background check for gun purchases so that it is an indefinite background check, and she wants more rules and regulations on gun shows.
On October 16 Clinton even said that the Australian gun confiscation scheme was “worth looking at” for the U.S.
During the November 14 Democrat debate, Martin O’Malley looked at Clinton and said, “When you ran in 2000 you said that we needed federal robust [gun control] regulations. Then, in 2008, you were portraying yourself as Annie Oakley and saying that we don’t need those regulations on the federal level. And now you come back around here [to gun control].”
O’Malley said Clinton’s changing gun control stance demonstrates her habit of “leading by polls” rather than “leading by principle.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.