Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumThe NRA helped elect Bernie Sanders. Why won't he admit it?
It is amazing that while Bernie has talked about his recent sponsorship of a bill to remove statutory immunity for gun makers, he rarely acknowledges that he voted for immunizing gun makers in the first place.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/07/nra-helped-elect-bernie-sanders-why-wont-he-admit-it/
At the Democratic debates last week in Detroit and two months ago in Miami, Sanders claimed he lost a 1988 race for Congress because he ran on a platform of banning assault rifles. Its true that Sanders told Vermont gun groups in 1988 that he backed a ban on semiautomatic rifles and that the NRA endorsed the Republican who beat him, Peter Smith. But there is little evidence to suggest that Sanders campaigned on the issue or that it played much of a role in his loss. In fact, he told the Burlington Free Press that year that gun laws are a local control issue and should not be changed.
And while Sanders is quick to bring up his 1988 defeat, he rarely mentions his 1990 win, which came with help from the NRA. Soon after Smith took office, the freshman Republican reversed himself and sponsored a bill banning assault weapons. Vermont gun groups were apoplectic and called for his resignation. Throughout the 1990 campaign, Sanders deftly exploited the rift. Though he, too, supported an assault weapons ban, he promised hunters he would always be straight with them. That fall, the NRA spent between $18,000 and $20,000 on anti-Smith ads. Bernie Sanders is a more honorable choice for Vermont sportsmen than Peter Smith, NRA executive Wayne LaPierre wrote his members.
Sanders won the race and kept his promise. He was an occasional ally to the NRA, repeatedly voting against the Brady Bill, which mandated waiting periods and background checks; opposing funding for gun violence research; and voting to protect gun manufacturers and retailers from lawsuits.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
yaesu
(8,020 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
TomCADem
(17,378 posts)That is true that since 2016, Bernie has taken a much more pro-gun control position as he positioned himself to run for President again. However, this has lead to him sponsoring efforts to repeal legislation protecting gun makers that he himself voted for.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/4/18236537/bernie-sanders-gun-control-president-campaign-2020
This vote has plagued Sanders among gun control advocates for decades. Background checks are the foundation of national gun policy and politics, which to this day continue to focus in large part on expanding background checks. Yet Sanders voted against the bill that established this system.
Then in 2003 and 2005, Sanders voted for a bill that effectively shields gun companies from lawsuits. These votes became particularly contentious in 2016, because Hillary Clinton voted against the bill when she was in the Senate and cited her vote to draw a contrast to Sanders during the 2016 primaries. The bill became law in 2005.
Gun control advocates strongly oppose the law, arguing that its stopped victims in several cases from holding gun makers and dealers accountable for producing and selling firearms they should have known would be diverted to criminal uses.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
OldRed2450
(710 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
TexasTowelie
(111,304 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
vsrazdem
(2,176 posts)The grades the gun lobby did have on file show Sanders has never exactly been in its favor, with one sort-of exception.
1992 D
1994 F
1996 F
1998 F
2000 F
2002 F
2004 D+
2006 C-
2012 D-
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
ritapria
(1,812 posts)He vote for Biden's Crime Bill , after all
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
SunSeeker
(51,371 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
yuiyoshida
(41,762 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Thekaspervote
(32,606 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Cha
(295,915 posts)popular with Dems?
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
mike_c
(36,214 posts)...student loan forgiveness, free public health care as a human right, free college tuition at public institutions, $15 minimum wage, beginning teachers' $60K salary, publicly funded political campaigns, responsible environmental legislation, a fight against global climate change, fair taxes levied upon the super wealthy for the public good, and paid parental leave from a guy who sort of sided with the NRA on legislation thirty years ago. We have our pride, dadgummit.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
TidalWave46
(2,061 posts)A damn fine moment.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
TomCADem
(17,378 posts)From 2002 to 2009, Bernie was pretty consistently pro-gun in his voting record.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/10/generation-forward-pac/did-bernie-sanders-vote-against-background-checks-/
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden