DES MOINES, Iowa -- Democratic presidential candidates on Saturday placed responsibility for inaction on gun violence in the hands of President Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association, in the face of broad national support for some gun-control measures.
"If most Americans insist that something be done and it doesn't happen, it means we need fundamental reform," Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., said at a presidential forum on gun violence in downtown Des Moines.
The forum comes a week after a pair of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, shook the nation and reignited a debate surrounding gun rights in America. Seventeen candidates were due to speak and answer questions from members of the gun-control group Moms Demand Action in the crowd, some of whom teared up while describing the ways gun violence had affected their families.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, in response to a question on how to avoid stigmatizing mental illness when the president has repeatedly highlighted that issue in response to mass shootings, called Trump a liar.
"It's just President Trump lying to the American people again, being inauthentic about what the problem is ... trying to distract, and trying not to take responsibility for what is happening in this nation," she said.
Sen. Kamala Harris of California also put some of the blame on Trump's shoulders, saying that the president "didn't pull the trigger, but he's tweeting out the ammunition."
A number of candidates have released gun-control proposals in the week since the shootings. On Saturday, the Democrats largely agreed on the broad contours of the policy debate, emphasizing the need to close background check loopholes, ban assault weapons and fund research into gun violence. Most of the candidates also called on a campaign finance overhaul as a solution to combat the influence of the NRA on elections.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts released a sweeping gun-control agenda on Saturday before the event, starting with a trio of actions she vowed to immediately take if elected -- including an expansion of background checks accomplished by redefining the federal standard for those "engaged in the business" of gun sales -- and continuing with a long list of legislative priorities.
Former Vice President Joe Biden proposed putting biometric scanners on guns, so that only the owner could use them, and said laws should be changed to allow individuals to sue gun manufacturers for false advertising. And Harris has pledged she would pursue executive actions to combat gun violence if Congress didn't move on legislation within her first 100 days in office, including closing the loophole that allows domestic abusers to buy guns and requiring background checks for customers of any gun dealer that sells more than five guns a year.
Harris also added her voice to the growing number of candidates calling on Walmart to stop selling guns, and she pressed strongly for background checks for potential gun buyers. Walmart is one of the biggest retailers of firearms in the United States, and the El Paso shooting occurred at a Walmart store.
Harris joined Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro in calling for the big-box store to end its gun sales. Warren, who called a day earlier for Walmart to stop selling guns, told Americans on Saturday to put pressure on the company by taking their business elsewhere.
"It's up to every Walmart customer who worries about the safety of her children, of her neighbors, of her friends, of people across this country to say, 'I've got choices on where I spend my money ... and I'd rather do my banking in line with my values," she said.
A Walmart spokesman has said the company is conducting "a thorough review of our policies" after the shooting.
A trio of more moderate candidates at the forum -- Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota -- called on gun owners to get involved in the gun-control effort.
"If we can ever look at this issue as not a political issue but a public health issue, we know what to do. The majority of gun owners, the majority of NRA members, all of us think universal background checks make a heck of a lot of sense," Bullock said, noting he uses guns and has taken his son hunting.
Both Buttigieg and Biden criticized what they described as absolutism on gun rights from Second Amendment proponents.
"Anyone can have a slingshot. No one can have a nuclear weapon. ... Somewhere between a water balloon and a Predator drone, America gets to draw a line in order to keep ourselves safe," Buttigieg said.
Information for this article was contributed by Will Weissert and Elana Schor of The Associated Press.
A Section on 08/11/2019