Cory Booker said he has heard gunshots in his neighborhood while fielding a question on guns during the 2020 Democratic debate Wednesday night.
MSNBC host Chuck Todd asked the New Jersey senator how he planned to implement a federal gun buyback program, a part of Booker’s campaign platform. Booker began his answer speaking about his personal experience hearing people living in his neighborhood get shot.
“My colleague and I have both been hearing about this on the campaign trail,” Booker said, referring to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “But what is even worse is I hear gunshots in my own neighborhood. I think I’m the only one — I hope I am the only one on this panel here — that had seven people shot in their neighborhood just last week.”
A man Booker knew “was killed with an assault rifle at the top of my block last year,” Booker said. “For millions of Americans, this in not a policy issue, this is an urgency.”
