The deadly shootings last week in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, catapulted gun violence to the forefront of the Democratic presidential primary. Now Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has laid out a detailed plan to combat the problem.
The proposals, which Warren says will reduce deaths from gun violence by 80 percent, were released Saturday morning in advance of a candidate forum in Iowa hosted by three gun control advocacy groups.
“We might not know how to get all the way there yet,” Warren wrote in a post on Medium, where she has laid out most of her campaign’s policy proposals. “But we’ll start by implementing solutions that we believe will work.”
Like many of her Democratic rivals, Warren supports an assault weapons ban and universal background checks before gun purchases, but her plan also would hike taxes on gun manufacturers, establish a federal licensing system for gun owners, set a uniform, one-week waiting period for purchases, bar anyone convicted of a hate crime from owning guns, and support urban-intervention programs.
“The next president has a […]
I’m curious as to how raising taxes on guns an ammo would curb gun violence. I understand the need for background checks, waiting periods, and would be open to some bans on assault rifles. That said, why punish a citizen who passes the background check/waiting period and wants to purchase a legal fire arm? Learning how to safely and accurately use a firearm seems to be an important aspect of being a responsible gun owner, so why make it 50% more expensive for the ammo one needs to do so?