On July 22 Hillary Clinton announced Tim Kaine as her running mate. Kaine is a Democrat Senator from Virginia who supports a ban on 15-round “clips” and “assault weapons,” and who wants to enact a law to hold gun dealers liable for the misuse of firearms.
During the June 26 airing of Meet the Press, Kaine told Chuck Todd that he voted for an “assault weapons” ban before and “would likely vote for it again.” But he stressed that he believes “limitations on the size of magazines and ammunition clips” is the first step to take.
Todd asked Kaine if he believes the sale of AR-15 rifles ought to be illegal, and Kaine offered no direct answer, Instead, he suggested the problem with banning certain rifles is that the ban can be circumvented. Kaine said:
Here’s the thing, I have voted for [the assault weapons ban], and I would likely vote for it again, but here’s the practical problem I think you’re aware of. As soon as you define what an assault weapon is–that you can’t sell a weapon and here’s how to describe it–gun manufacturers just make one adjustment or two and they say, “See, this isn’t subject to the limitation.”
On September 8, 2015–just two weeks after Vester Lee Flanagan used a legally purchased firearm to kill news reporter Alison Parker on-air–Kaine put forward a bill to hold licensed gun dealers liable for the misuse of firearms. The bill was designed to “raise the bar” and require more “accountability” on the part of gun sellers. The Roanoke Times reported that Kaine’s bill “would make gun sellers criminally liable for a bad sale if they didn’t take reasonable, affirmative steps to determine the customer met federal criteria.”
Consider the scenario–Flanagan passed a federal background check for his gun. He passed the very same check that Hillary Clinton, Gabby Giffords, and others assure us will reduce crime and/or make us safer. But after passing the check and acquiring the gun, Flanagan carried out an evil deed. Background checks will never stop a latent criminal from getting a gun; they only stop actual criminals.
Yet even though the law was followed regarding Flanagan–a federal background check completed and passed–Kaine’s response was to push for more liability on the licensed gun dealer. In other words, he wants the gun dealer held responsible for what a buyer does after exiting the store with a firearm the FBI allowed him to purchase.
This is Hillary Clinton’s running mate.
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.