Tim Kaine’s Gun Control Positions Through The Years

Tim Kaine has held public office off and on in some capacity since 1994 and has consistently pushed gun control for law-abiding citizens along the way.

In 1994 Kaine was a Richmond City councilman. In that capacity he “supported legislation that included a ban on commonly-owned firearms and their magazines.” As with all gun controls, this ban would have only applied to law-abiding citizens.

The NRA outlined some of Kaine’s other gun control pushes:

• In 2000, as Mayor of Richmond, “Kaine spent $6,000 in public funds to transporting residents in eight city buses to the anti-gun Million Mom March event in Washington DC.”
• While campaigning for the office of Lt. Governor in 2001, Kaine “opposed repealing Virginia’s one-gun-a-month purchase [limit].”
• In 2005, while running for Governor of Virginia, Kaine “supported closing the so-called ‘gun show loophole.'” Such a loophole does not exist, but has been a Democrat talking point for decades nonetheless. It allows gun control advocates to continue pushing an expansion of background checks.
• Also in 2005, Kaine “continued to support Virginia’s one-gun-a-month law.”
• As Governor in 2006 Kaine “vetoed right-to-carry legislation.”
• In 2007 “Kaine supported allowing government authorities ‘monitor’ people who buy ammunition.”

In March 2008–less than a year after the horrible April 16, 2007, attack on innocents in Virginia Tech gun-free zones–Kaine vetoed legislation that would have allowed law-abiding citizens to keep a gun in their car for purposes of self-defense. The idea behind the bill was that students in gun-free zones could have at least fled to their cars to retrieve their guns for self-defense in the event of an attack.

Additionally, Breitbart News reported that Kaine supported Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) post-Sandy Hook gun control push in 2013, expanding background checks to include persons on the terror watch list in December 2015. He also supported a bill to allow the Attorney General to sidestep due process requirements and bar gun possession for certain Americans in June 2016.

In September 2015, Senator Kaine pushed legislation that would punish licensed gun sellers for crimes committed with guns that were legally manufactured and legally sold. In other words, the gun seller would be liable even in cases where background checks were performed and passed by the buyer.

Yet during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, Kaine described himself as a “strong Second Amendment supporter.”

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.