since9
Campaign Veteran
I'm not sure how "objective" this might appear to others, but it appears to be reasonably valid, matching with a great many other articles I've read, along with comments on both their presidential candidacy websites. Follow the links for details, but I've copied the key points from the articles, below, with my comments in parentheses:
Clinton on Guns:
Summary Statement: "If she is elected and able to carry out all her promises, Clinton’s stances would likely make it harder for everyone, including criminals, to get their hands on firearms without undergoing a background check. However, the expanded background checks don't address other holes in the system or a lack of complete records."
Trump on Guns:
Summary Statement: "If Trump is elected and able to enact all of his policy proposals, the current restrictions on guns could be both tightened and loosened. If he was able to reform the system of background checks to fill the gaps in its records, it would be harder for those with criminal records to buy guns in stores. But it would remain easy to legally buy firearms in private sales. At the same time, it would become a lot easier to be a gun owner, once you have one — a licensed gun owner would be able to legally carry his or her gun more or less anywhere."
Over to the Open Carry crowd for comments...
Clinton on Guns:
- adamantly for stronger gun control
- adamantly for better gun-violence prevention
- promised to expand background checks
- promised to close loopholes that allow domestic abusers and the mentally ill to buy firearms
- promised to hold dealers and manufacturers accountable for gun deaths
- supports banning individuals on the no-fly list from being permitted to buy guns
- believes the majority of both Americans and gun owners (if there's a difference, that's a problem) support universal background checks
- voted against legislation protecting weapons manufacturers and deals from lawsuits over deaths associated with their products
- voted in support of banning assault weapons for sale to the general public
- called for the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban immediately after the Orlando shooting
- endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety
- endorsed by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
- endorsed by endorsed by multiple lawmakers in favor of gun control, including Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, and Jim Himes, D-CT, Sen. Ed Markey, D-MA, and Gabrielle Giffordd
- praised by Giffords for having "the determination and toughness to stand up to the corporate gun lobby -- and the record to prove it"
- criticized by the NRA who accuses her of trying to take away the right to own a firearm under the Second Amendment
- criticized by Chris Cox (NRA Executive Director): "a Clinton-influenced Supreme Court would “[mean] your right to own a firearm is gone.”
Summary Statement: "If she is elected and able to carry out all her promises, Clinton’s stances would likely make it harder for everyone, including criminals, to get their hands on firearms without undergoing a background check. However, the expanded background checks don't address other holes in the system or a lack of complete records."
Trump on Guns:
- strongly in favor of the Second Amendment and people's rights to have pretty much whatever guns they chose
- advocates banning types of guns or magazine sizes, calling such bans "a total failure"
- supports expanding gun permits to a national system, in which a permit to carry issued in one state would be valid throughout the country (as is our current drivers license system)
- against expanding background checks
- advocates fixing the current system he calls "broken" for its incomplete records and databases
- advocates doing away with gun-free spaces (zones) such as those around schools, calling them "targets for the sickos"
- advocates for better mental health treatment to catch mass shooters before they commit a crime
- suggested America would be better to focus on "radical Islamic terrorism" as a deterrent to mass attacks as opposed to restricting gun ownership
- puts his money where his mouth is
- has a permit to carry a concealed weapon
- sometimes takes his gun with him around New York City
- has never held public office
- as a business owner, seems to straddle the fence (a number of his resorts do not allow guns on their premises, with or without a permit)
- according to Reuters, Trump said that he would be changing that policy
- endorsed by the NRA; Chris Cox said, "Now is the time to unite. If your preferred candidate got out of the race, it's time to get over it,"
- was previously and heavily criticized by NRA members for his support of an assault weapons ban in his 2000 book, "The America We Deserve" (appears to have changed his mind)
- heavily criticized by the NRA for insinuating that the Orlando, FL shooting could have been stopped by someone with a gun at the club (What the hell? Why in the world would the NRA do that???)
- Chris Cox stated that "drinking at a nightclub with a firearm 'defies common sense.' " (Cox fails to address the issue of armed bouncers and armed non-drinkers)
Summary Statement: "If Trump is elected and able to enact all of his policy proposals, the current restrictions on guns could be both tightened and loosened. If he was able to reform the system of background checks to fill the gaps in its records, it would be harder for those with criminal records to buy guns in stores. But it would remain easy to legally buy firearms in private sales. At the same time, it would become a lot easier to be a gun owner, once you have one — a licensed gun owner would be able to legally carry his or her gun more or less anywhere."
Over to the Open Carry crowd for comments...
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