Bernie Sanders is a pro gun control moderate. Not as strict as some. Okay?

[Armstead]

Sanders is a gun-control advocate. He has voted in favor of a nationwide ban on assault weapons, a nationwide ban on high-capacity magazines of over ten rounds, and nationwide expanded background checks that address unsafe loopholes
But he is a moderate in the issue. He believes states should enforce gun control laws that reflect their own circumstances and populations.

“Folks who do not like guns are fine. But we have millions of people who are gun owners in this country — 99.9 percent of those people obey the law. I want to see real, serious debate and action on guns, but it is not going to take place if we simply have extreme positions on both sides. I think I can bring us to the middle.”

“Coming from a rural state, I think I can communicate with folks coming from urban states where guns mean different things than they do in Vermont where it’s used for hunting,. That’s where we’ve got to go. We don’t have to argue with each other and yell at each other. We need a common-sense solution.”

( http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-gun-policy/#gun-control )

If rigidly adhering to a hard-line litmus test to the absolute strictest definition of gun controls is a make-or-break issue to you, by all means vote for someone else.

If you are somewhat flexible on that (or pragmatic depending on how you look at it), remember that Sanders is in favor of gun control, and has supported most off the basic positions of Clinton and others.

Wherever you stand, however, it would be helpful to be honest about his position, and not distort it to create a strawman of Sanders as something he is not.




.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Minor damage to nose that I can live with.

Whereas, with Hillary, damage to nose is beyond the limit of acceptability.

[Zorra]

2. On The Issues 2016 lists Bernie as having an "F" rating from the NRA.

Rated F by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun control voting record.

http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/Bernie_Sanders_Gun_Control.htm

Votesmart

National Rifle Association - Candidate Positions on Gun Rights 8%

http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/27110/bernie-sanders#.Vd9tOX1cCSc

[Doctor_J]

3. That is just to distract you from Mrs Clinton's long record of support for

War, mass incarceration, welfare reform, profit prisons, and domestic spying. I don't think it sways many voters. Her supporters are blissfully detached from any actual issues.

[FlatBaroque]

5. I agree 100% with Bernie's position on guns

I can't stand politicians who bleat about gun control but vote for illegal wars.

[libdem4life]

6. The all-or-nothing dyad/litmus test seldom holds. Many of us grew up

around guns. We definitely need new rules in this very different society, and hopefully Bernie can contribute to that conversation.

[BainsBane]

7. If you agree gun corporations are special

and deserve immunity to protect their unfettered profits from evil families, like the parents of Sandyhook, by all means, accommodate your views about corporations to carve out a huge exception for those that profit from murder. And that Brady Bill with all it's restrictions was so unpleasant. Who wants national parks to be free of loaded weapons anyway? What if a moose tries to mug you? https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/27110/bernie-sanders/37/guns#.Vd5qPLTydUQ
After all, most gun killings occur in less affluent urban neighborhoods rather than the $80k+ neighborhoods of the Americans who really matter.

Then again, you could pressure Sanders to get right on gun control. As long as people continue to make excuses for politicians, Americans will keep dying. As long as the people who want to see an end to the domestic war refuse to hold their elected officials accountable, they will keep accommodating a minority of more committed gun proponents. But rather than pressuring elected officials, you are here arguing that people should become more open to guns to accommodate a candidate's views.

What if I argued that war abroad wasn't really so bad because Clinton had voted for the Iraq War resolution? But then, why would I even want to do such a thing? I am perfectly able to say I disagree with her on that an other issues. I don't sublimate my views to hers or any other politician, and I never will. Nor will I work to drive public opinion toward the side of the gun lobby or MIC, EVER. I don't understand why people so easily abandon principles to accommodate members of the political elite, except if they see that politician as more important than anything else. It is that tendency to sublimate everyone to a politician's views that I find so dangerous about the Sanders candidacy. If his influence is to prompt people to repeat gun lobby justifications for pro-gun policy and to denounce leftist social movements like Black Lives Matter, something is seriously wrong. The more threads like this I see, the more I am committed to doing everything in my power to ensure he never gains power.

[Armstead]

8. I am not suggesting anyone "sublimate their own views" to acomodate Sanders

Quite the opposite.

If one doesn't agree with his views on the issue, one is free to either express their disagreement to the candidate's campaign, on DU or elsewhere....or write him off because you believe it is too important an issue.

But people should represent his positions on it honestly, rather than misrepresenting them.

Truth: I don't agree with him on the gun suit ban. But I also don't see it as being as important as some other aspects of gun control that he does support. Guns do what guns do. Unless one wants to ban them altogether, (as impossible as successfully banning harmful narcotics), I believe the man purpose of gun control should be to make it as difficult as possible for people who should not have guns to get them.

[SheilaT]

9. Because I am on the extreme end of this issue

(I favor confiscation of guns) I do not expect any elected official to agree with me. Even if I held a more moderate position on control, I'd be out of step with far too many politicians.

But the up side of having my particular opinion, is that I totally ignore anyone's stand on gun control, and care about other things instead. It's sort of a nice freedom.

[LiberalElite]

10. An F rating from

The NRA is good enuf for me.

[SoapBox]

11. Ditto.

No matter how those that support others try and spin Bernie as a pro gun nutter...

The F from the NRA is all I need to know.