Presidential Debate: Hillary Clinton Says Court’s Heller Decision Endangers Toddlers

During the Oct. 19 presidential debate Hillary Clinton said she was upset by the Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v Heller because it endangers toddlers.

Clinton said in this response to a line of questions revolving around the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the Second Amendment.

Moderator Chris Wallace pointed out that in 2015, Clinton said, “the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment.” This statement referred to the Heller decision, so he asked her to explain her opposition to that ruling.

Clinton’s response began with her saying she supports the Second Amendment. She then segued to talking about the various gun controls she wants to enact and finally, to claiming the Heller decision endangers toddlers. She said:

I disagreed with the way the court applied the Second Amendment in that case, because what the District of Columbia was trying to do was to protect toddlers from guns. So they wanted people with guns to safely store them.

In responding to Clinton’s answer, Donald Trump described Heller as a “well-crafted decision” supported by “people who believe in the Second Amendment.” He went to say that he recalled Hillary Clinton being “extremely upset” when the decision was handed down. Wallace looked at Clinton and said, “Where you extremely upset?”

Clinton responded:

I was upset because dozens of toddlers injure themselves, even kill people with guns. Because, unfortunately, not everyone who has loaded guns in their homes takes appropriate precautions.

She then restated her support for the Second Amendment, and stressed that such support is “not in conflict with sensible, commonsense regulation.”

In reality, the Heller decision was largely about the Washington DC handgun ban that took effect in 1976. That ban was contained in Firearms Control Regulations Act (FCRA), which also contained requirements that any rifles or shotguns be disassembled or otherwise rendered inoperable while  in the home. CBS News reported that Sterling Tucker — DC City Council chairman when the FCRA was passed — made clear that banning handguns was the central focus. Tucker said, “Handgun crimes were just getting out of sight. We had to isolate and contain the problem. We thought a handgun law would do that.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.