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Joe BidenCongratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
 

TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 12:18 AM Nov 2019

The 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/

Sanders wants credit for fighting economic inequality before it was cool, popularizing Medicare-for-all and opposing the Iraq War from the start. But he refuses to take responsibility for Congress’s — and his own — inaction on gun control.

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. It’s 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.


If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The NRA helped elect Bernie Sanders. Why won't he admit it? (Original Post) TomCADem Nov 2019 OP
NRA gave him a D rating, not much help but good try. nt yaesu Nov 2019 #1
Vox - Bernie Sanders's record on gun control, explained TomCADem Nov 2019 #2
NRA ratings don't matter. Votes do. OldRed2450 Nov 2019 #4
Inconvenient truth. nt TexasTowelie Nov 2019 #3
Yes, you can see see they really love him. vsrazdem Nov 2019 #5
Bernie has made mistakes ritapria Nov 2019 #6
K & R SunSeeker Nov 2019 #7
oh myyy.... yuiyoshida Nov 2019 #8
His past record with the nra is not as clear as he says it is. Dozens of articles about it Thekaspervote Nov 2019 #9
uh.. 'cause it's not Cha Nov 2019 #10
we don't want no stinkin' medical debt relief... mike_c Nov 2019 #11
That's a fine moment you just had. TidalWave46 Nov 2019 #12
2003 and 2005 Immunity Votes Were 30 Years Ago? TomCADem Nov 2019 #13
 

yaesu

(8,020 posts)
1. NRA gave him a D rating, not much help but good try. nt
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 12:27 AM
Nov 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
2. Vox - Bernie Sanders's record on gun control, explained
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 12:35 AM
Nov 2019

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

In 1993, Sanders fulfilled a campaign promise and voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which effectively set up background checks at the federal level. He said he opposed the measure because it imposed a five-day waiting period for background checks — at least until the federal government, years later, could develop an instant background check system that can take up to three days if the initial check is inconclusive.

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 it’s 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.
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

OldRed2450

(710 posts)
4. NRA ratings don't matter. Votes do.
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 01:23 AM
Nov 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

vsrazdem

(2,176 posts)
5. Yes, you can see see they really love him.
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 01:27 AM
Nov 2019

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-

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

ritapria

(1,812 posts)
6. Bernie has made mistakes
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 02:19 AM
Nov 2019

He vote for Biden's Crime Bill , after all

If I were to vote in a presidential
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Undecided
 

Cha

(295,915 posts)
10. uh.. 'cause it's not
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 04:07 AM
Nov 2019

popular with Dems?

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

mike_c

(36,214 posts)
11. we don't want no stinkin' medical debt relief...
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 08:33 PM
Nov 2019

...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.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

TidalWave46

(2,061 posts)
12. That's a fine moment you just had.
Mon Nov 4, 2019, 08:43 PM
Nov 2019

A damn fine moment.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
13. 2003 and 2005 Immunity Votes Were 30 Years Ago?
Fri Nov 15, 2019, 03:14 AM
Nov 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
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