A self-described socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders is running for the Democratic nomination for President to the left of Hillary Clinton on all issues except one — gun rights.
Sanders represents Vermont, which despite being one of the first states to attempt universal health care and same-sex marriage, was also the first state to have unrestricted concealed carry. Vermont’s light touch on gun ownership dates back to the mid-1980s when even states like Texas and Arizona did not issue concealed carry permits.
Vermont’s gun culture has deep roots in their politics. Back in 2013, the Democratic State Senate majority leader proposed banning semi-automatic weapons, but he couldn’t find a single co-sponsor and was forced to withdraw the bill.
Sanders is cut from that same political cloth.
He was to the right of his 1990 Republican congressional opponent on gun rights and was even endorsed by the NRA. Sanders voted against the 1993 Brady Bill and the 2005 bill that would have allowed victims of gun violence to sue weapons manufacturers.
Many of Sanders critics view his support for gun rights as being thankful to the NRA for their early support of him in 1990.
Chris Graff, former Vermont bureau chief for the Associated Press, told the Vermont paper Seven Days in 2012, “There was absolutely no doubt in that ’90 vote that the NRA got [Sanders] elected, and he owed them.”
But it’s likely that Sanders’ moderate position on guns has less to do with special interests and more to do with the political culture of Vermont. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, himself a Democratic candidate for president back in 2004, also had a more conservative position on gun ownership than the rest of his party.
Sanders does not anticipate his views on guns to give him a disadvantage against Clinton.
According to the National Journal, Sanders plans on making his campaign about middle class economic populism and not about cultural and social issues.
Sanders told The Atlantic magazine that his campaign message will be “to take on billionaire class which controls our economy and increasingly controls the political life of this country.”
