Kamala Harris Pushes to Criminalize Private Gun Sales, Ban 'Assault Weapons'

Democrat presidential hopeful Kamala Harris pushed to criminalize private gun sales and ban “assault weapons” during a January 28, 2019, CNN town hall.

She referenced the January 8, 2011, attack on Gabby Giffords in her build-up to calling for “reasonable gun safety laws.”

She also referenced the children killed in the December 14, 2012, attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Her discussion of the children included talk of autopsy photos, making it a throwback to the December 16, 2012, correspondence between Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan wherein they discussed how best to capitalize on the deaths and emotional toll in the immediate aftermath of the school attack. The Baltimore Post published the email exchange in which Holder wrote: “Go for a vote this week before it fades. Tap peoples emotion. Make it simple assault weapons.”

After referencing the attacks on Giffords and Sandy Hook, Harris called for background checks and an “assault weapons” ban. She described both gun controls as “good ideas.” She did not mention that Giffords’ attacker passed a background check to acquire the gun he used in the attack, nor did she mention that the weapons used in the Sandy Hook attack were stolen. In fact, they were stolen from someone who passed background checks in order to acquire them.

The United States has had background checks on retail gun sales since 1998. Regardless of that, nearly every mass shooter of the 21st century acquired his guns at retail by passing a background check. Nevertheless, one of Kamala Harris’s “good ideas” is to criminalize private gun sales via more background checks.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.