Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Set for Clash on Gun Control

[yallerdawg]

Source: New York Times, Trip Gabriel

Mr. Trump, who promises to “totally protect” the Second Amendment, is scheduled to speak on Friday at the annual convention of the National Rifle Association, on the cusp of a general election in which gun issues are expected to be more prominent than in recent presidential races. His address should signal how far he is likely to go in pressing gun rights to energize the Republican base in the fall campaign.

Whereas President Obama soft-pedaled gun control in both his national runs, Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, is signaling a greater appetite to clash with Mr. Trump on the issue.

In a Twitter message last week, Mrs. Clinton said that Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, would force schools “to allow guns in classrooms on his first day in office.”

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/feed/9-things-every-voter-america-needs-know-about-donald-trump/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=20160513feed-9-things-sat

“This issue is at a tipping point,” said Dan Gross, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, citing Mrs. Clinton’s politically effective framing of gun issues that put Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the defensive in the Democratic primary campaign. “You’re going to hear about it as differentiator for the first time in decades” in the general election, Mr. Gross said.

Mrs. Clinton’s appearances in black churches, where she cited the grim statistics of gun violence and surrounded herself with families of victims, helped her win crucial African-American voters. She relentlessly criticized Mr. Sanders for his votes against gun control in the Senate.

Read it at: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-gun-control.html?ref=politics

[TeddyR]

1. I'd be surprised if Hillary

Proposes any meaningful gun control measure. What she has advanced so far will make little if any difference with respect to gun violence.

[yallerdawg]

2. Maybe part of it is what she won't do.

We lose more than 33,000 Americans to gun violence every single year—and nearly 3,000 of them are children and teenagers. But instead of giving parents, teachers, schools, and communities the right to set commonsense measures to keep kids safe and put an end to this epidemic, Trump says he would mandate every school in America allow guns in classrooms. “My first day, it gets signed, OK? My first day. There's no more gun-free zones."

What she proposes: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2015/10/04/clinton-believes-its-time-to-tackle-gun-violence/

[TeddyR]

10. Oh I agree

She's certainly not Trump when it comes to gun control. I really question how much Trump believes of what he says though. Although Hills is the most malleable Dem candidate I can recall, Trump strikes me as a person who will say literally anything and adopt any position to get elected, and is in no way qualified to run this country.

I may have to start adding this to every post involving Trump/Clinton/Sanders - setting aside my dislike for Hills, I'd walk the plank for her to prevent Trump from becoming president. I have friends and family who are progressives/liberals, and I don't want them to experience 4 to 8 years of rule under the likes of Trump, Cruz and Palin, because that's what Trump offers. North Carolina bathroom laws, Oklahoma abortion laws, and Roy Moore from Alabama on the US Supreme Court, that's what we get with Trump. And apparently a wall on the southern border and Muslims banned from entry.

[Lizzie Poppet]

3. Just in case she wasn't ALREADY a weak enough GE candidate.

Aggressively touting gun control is pure cancer for Democratic candidates...wishful thinking about "tipping points" notwithstanding.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. Don't worry, it's pivot time. n/t

[Lizzie Poppet]

5. Yep. What began with seeking fat-cat Bush donors...

...will soon become a mad dash to the right...and various progressive issues will be competing for scarce elbow room under the bus. The only upside to that will be enjoying some of her supporters' buyer's remorse.

[yallerdawg]

6. Excuse me?

Now Democrats are supposed to be afraid of gun control issues?

Hillary is too far to the 'left' now?

[Lizzie Poppet]

7. Even if I thought for a moment gun control would survive her already-started lurch rightwards...

...I would advise her against making an issue of it. It's historically a loser for Democrats at the national level, a sure-fire way to hugely energize the GOP base. It's likely to alienate a big swath of centrist independents in several swing states, too. It's simply a terrible idea for Democrats.

[yallerdawg]

8. You'd advise her not to make a principled stand.

You'd advise her to tailor her campaign message to moderate, winning agendas that attract the most voters, particularly independent centrists in swing states.

Democrats don't care about gun control.

She should just kind of agree with Trump on this issue.

This is "Democratic Underground!"

[Lizzie Poppet]

9. You mistake me.

While I support certain sensible gun control measures (I worked on the campaign to get universal background checks in place here in Oregon...we won!), I think these ideas are best advanced at the state level. Not all of Hillary's gun control ideas are things I support. As for advising her to drop gun control because it's a losing issue for Democrats, that's kind of like telling water to be wet. Tailoring her message to the shifting political winds is what she does. I have no need to tell her anything of the sort.