Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said that she would issue an executive action to take away gun dealers’ licenses who don’t follow the law if she were elected president.
Harris is a former prosecutor in California who formerly campaigned on being tough on crime but has recently backed away from many of her positions while seeking the Democratic presidential nomination for 2020.
Appearing on Feb. 12 on CNN, Harris was asked if she would support a federal gun license.
“I like the idea. Jake, I’ll tell you, on this issue of the need for gun safety losses, we’re not at any loss for good ideas. People have been having good ideas for decades on this issue. What we’re at a loss is people in Congress have the courage to do something,” she said.
“On this issue of the need for gun safety laws, we’re not at any loss for good ideas… What we’re waiting for is Congress to have the courage to act,” says Sen. @KamalaHarris.
As President, “I am prepared to take executive action, because that’s what’s needed.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/YZfMNAQE2b
— CNN (@CNN) May 12, 2019
“I’m going to tell you on this subject, we’re not waiting for the worst tragedy because we’ve seen the worst of tragedies including what happened this week and seeing the heroism of a child who we now mourn his loss, his parents’ only child. We’re not waiting for tragedies and great ideas. Universal background check? Good idea. You might want to know if someone has been proven to be a danger for themselves or others before they can buy a lethal weapon,” she added.
Harris was referring to how 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo recently rushed a gunman at his school in Colorado recently and was shot dead. Police haven’t said how the two suspects obtained their guns, but sources told one local news outlet that they got them by smashing into a locked gun cabinet and grabbing the firearms owned by the parents of one alleged shooter.
Continuing, Harris said: “Let me tell you what I’m proposing. I’m proposing, one, if by my 100th day in office when elected president of the United States, the United States Congress fails to put a bill on my desk to sign with all of the good ideas or any of the good ideas that I’m prepared to take executive action because that’s what’s needed.”
“For anyone who sells more than five guns a year, they will be required to perform background checks on the people they sell them to. This will be the most comprehensive background check policy that has ever been had in our country thus far,” she added. “I’m also prepared to say and to direct the ATF to remove and take away the licenses of gun dealers who fail to follow the law. 90 percent of the guns that are associated with crime have been sold by 5 percent of the gun dealers. We need to take their licenses away.”
The comments are the latest in gun control proposals by Democratic presidential candidates.
FACT: There have been more than 1,600 mass shootings since the Sandy Hook massacre.
We don’t have to live this reality. We can take real action on the gun violence epidemic now. pic.twitter.com/DoDqchPtsz
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 10, 2019
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) earlier this month unveiled a plan that would implement a national gun licensing program.
“Just as a driver’s license demonstrates a person’s eligibility and proficiency to drive a car, a gun license demonstrates that a person is eligible and can meet certain basic safety and training standards necessary to own a gun,” Booker wrote.
People would have to submit fingerprints, provide information, and certify that they’d completed a gun safety course. Then, the FBI would complete a background check. If the applicant was approved, they’d get a license for five years.
Booker is also one of many Democratic candidates who wants to ban assault weapons, although many gun owners have noted that the candidates’ definitions of assault weapons can vary widely.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) slammed Booker’s plan, calling it “a slapdash gun control advocate wish list, at the core of which is a plan to create a may-issue federal gun owner licensing scheme and confiscate millions of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms.”