Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Republicans “gun worshipers,” who are “shameless” because of their “huge advantage” due to the filibuster.
“You know, democracy is the balancing of interests and rights, and unfortunately at this time, the gun worshipers have a huge advantage because of the filibuster and because of their shameless exploitation of people’s unwarranted fears,” Hillary Clinton said.
“The opportunists on the other side, like Cruz and his ilk,” she continued, “they know better and they are in the position of trying to keep people really riled up and scared that sensible gun legislation like we had in the ‘90s for 10 years will somehow undermine their rights.”
“Well, what about the rights of all the rest of us? The rights of us to go to work, go shopping, go on dates to the movie theater, go to school, for heaven’s sake — what about the rest of us?” she asked.
The House of Representatives has proposed legislation to impose background checks on all gun sales and transfers, but the initiative has not totally satisfied Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who is an important vote in a Senate that is split 50/50 with 60 votes needed without the nullification of a filibuster or the tactic of reconciliation to circumvent the Senate Democrat’s vote shortfall.
“Background checks are important. I do believe that. But you can go too far on that ship pretty fast, too. I am for background checks. There is a caveat for handing down within the family and not requiring a background check,” Tester specified.
Even so, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Thursday he would bring up the legislation for a vote when the Senate returns April 12.
The full interview of Hillary Clinton will be released Thursday.