Hillary Clinton invoked the death of Trayvon Martin, a Florida teen who was shot and killed in in 2012 by a neighborhood watch volunteer, Tuesday evening as she promised supporters at a campaign rally that she would take on the “gun lobby” and enact tougher gun control legislation.
The Democratic nominee’s remarks came as she also touted about her experience dealing with global terrorism when she served as secretary of state.
“When I think about keeping Americans safe, obviously I think about terrorism,” Clinton said at a campaign event in Sanford, Fla. “But I also want to protect Americans from the epidemic of gun violence that is stalking our country.”
“I cannot come to Sanford without talking about Trayvon Martin,” she continued. “It’s heartbreaking that this young man all he did was go to a cornerstone, bought a pack of Skittles and walked back home in the rain. And his life was cut short.”
Martin was shot and killed in Sanford during an altercation with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. A jury found Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder on July 13, 2013.
On Tuesday, Clinton laid out her plans to address systemic racism and gun violence in the United States.
“Thirty-three thousand people a year die from guns and we’ve got to do a better job, my friends,” she said. “You see, I believe we have a fundamental human — even a moral obligation — to protect our children no matter who they are or what zip code they live in. We have a moral obligation to reduce gun violence and that will require us to stand up against systemic racism and promote justice and equality and criminal justice reform.”
“Something is wrong when young people, just starting their lives are dying. Something is wrong when so many parents live in fear that their child will be hurt or killed going to the movies, sitting in a first grade classroom, attending a Bible study, the list goes on. This has nothing to do with the Second Amendment and responsible gun owners,” Clinton added, referencing several recent high profile mass shooting events.
She kept her attention to the protestations of pro-Second Amendment groups, earning her loudest applause of the evening.
“There is no conflict, no conflict between the Second Amendment and common sense gun safety measures. I am willing with your help and the help of responsible gun owners to stand up to the gun lobby and bring about changes to saves lives,” Clinton said.
This isn’t the first time that Clinton has linked terrorism and gun violence together in discussion about keeping American safe.
“[I]t’s not only terrorists we need to be worried about,” she said in a recent AARP interview. “I believe that people are rightly concerned about violence. Terrorism is part of that violence, and we have to do the best job we can to keep America safe.”
“But I’m looking at violence broadly,” she added. “It’s also why I’ve advocated gun-safety reform, like comprehensive background checks, closing the gun-show loophole, closing the online loophole — because, you know, it’s not only terrorists we need to be worried about.”
