Clinton pledges to take on gun lobby, tighten restrictions

Mrs Clinton will pursue expanded background checks as part of her plan to curb gun violence.
Mrs Clinton will pursue expanded background checks as part of her plan to curb gun violence. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

MANCHESTER (New Hampshire) • Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has pledged to take on the powerful US gun lobby, saying she would pursue expanded background checks and take steps to hold manufacturers accountable for crimes committed with their weapons.

Mrs Clinton unveiled her plan to curb gun violence on Monday, just days after a gunman killed nine people and wounded another nine last week at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.

Her voice cracked as she talked about the toll gun violence has taken on US schools, cinemas and other public spaces. She asked Ms Nicole Hockley, an audience member whose six-year-old son was killed along with 19 other children and six adults in a 2012 Connecticut school shooting, to speak briefly.

At the top of Mrs Clinton's list are expanding background checks, repealing legislation that protects manufacturers and dealers from liability, and strengthening punishment for purchasers who buy firearms for others.

Mrs Clinton has not minced words in recent days, saying she wants to build a "national movement" to counter the influence of the National Rifle Association.

"What I would love to see, is gun owners, responsible gun owners ... form a different organisation and take the Second Amendment (of the US Constitution) back from extremists,"she said.

Her campaign released proposals about what she would do to curb gun violence if elected to the White House. She would use presidential executive authority to close a "loophole" to ensure that those buying firearms at gun shows and online face the same background checks and sales taxes as buyers from traditional retailers. She would push Congress to prohibit domestic abusers, including stalkers, from buying guns.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 07, 2015, with the headline Clinton pledges to take on gun lobby, tighten restrictions. Subscribe