In an interview Wednesday, Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley expressed his astonishment that Republican presidential candidates will not “confront the NRA” in support of more gun control legislation.
O’Malley said this in a short interview with MRCTV during the lead-up to Wednesday’s GOP debate.
According to MRCTV, “O’Malley dodged a straightforward question… about why he feels he’s trailing far behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race,” and he then proceeded to go on an “anti-gun rant.” Part of that rant was wondering aloud why the Republican candidates embrace the NRA rather than attack it.
O’Malley referenced “a growing consensus of people… coming together in the Democrat Party for common sense gun safety legislation,” i.e., gun control. He then said he can’t understand why Republican hopefuls won’t “confront the NRA” and push for more gun control.
O’Malley specifically referenced the passage of universal background checks and urged Republicans to join with other Americans in showing a little “backbone” for gun control. He did not mention that universal background check legislation would simply mean that every would-be gun owner–whether buying from a store or an individual–would have to go through the same background check that the Umpqua Community College gunman, the Aurora movie theater gunman, and the 2009 Fort Hood gunman all passed to acquire their guns.
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