Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has moved to the left of her husband on gun control, drawing a new attack from the nation’s top gun lobby that her goal is to confiscate all guns.
After telling New Hampshire voters Friday that a gun confiscation plan instituted in Australia is “worth considering” in the United States, the top lobbyist for the National Rifle Association said that Clinton’s goal isn’t life-saving gun legislation but a total ban on firearms.
On the NRA-ILA website.
“This validates what the NRA has said all along. The real goal of gun control supporters is gun confiscation. Hillary Clinton, echoing President Obama’s recent remarks on the same issue, made that very clear,” said Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action.
After she made her comments and compared a gun buyback program similar to President Obama’s “cash for clunkers” campaign to boost the auto industry, the NRA posted a story on the event in which Cox said that Clinton and the Democrats pushing gun control are out of touch with America on the issue.
Clinton’s call for gun confiscation follows recent comments she made at a private fundraiser late last month. While expressing support for a ban on commonly owned semi-automatic firearms, Clinton stated her belief that the Supreme Court wrongly held that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to self-defense. In her own words: “…the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment. And I am going to make that case every chance I get.”
“Hillary Clinton just doesn’t get it. The NRA’s strength lies in our five million members and the tens of millions of voters who support the Second Amendment,” Cox said. “A majority of Americans support this freedom, and the Supreme Court was absolutely right to hold that the Second Amendment guarantees the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms. Hillary Clinton’s extreme views are completely out of touch with the American people.”
The Democrats have indicated that they plan to make gun control a central platform in the upcoming 2016 election, a potentially risky move. They cite polls showing support for some form of gun control, though the NRA cites other polling.
In New Hampshire, she was asked why the U.S. can’t institute a program similar to a 1990s campaign by Australia to buy back guns and ban semi-automatic weapons. She seemed to endorse that plan. On this C-SPAN link, the question comes at 55 minutes.
“Australia is a good example, Canada is a good example, the U.K. is a good example. Why? Each of them have had mass killings. Australia had a huge mass killing about 20-25 years ago, Canada did as well, so did the U.K. In reaction, they passed much stricter gun laws,” said Clinton.
She added, “I think it would be worth considering doing it on the national level, if that could be arranged. After the terrible 2008 financial crisis, one of the programs that President Obama was able to get in place was Cash for Clunkers. You remember that? It was partially a way to get people to buy new cars because we wanted more economic activity, and to get old models that were polluting too much, off the roads. So I think that’s worth considering.”
Her position is even further left of her husband’s. Bill Clinton pushed through significant gun control, including an “assault weapons ban,” that has since died.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
