WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders joined with congressional Democrats Thursday planning to use a Senate budget vote to offer largely symbolic new gun control proposals one day after the mass shooting in San Bernardino.
Sanders has tightly embraced gun control on the presidential campaign trail in recent months but remains dogged by a past that saw him cast NRA-friendly votes against the Brady Bill and other measures with broad support among the gun control left. Hillary Clinton's campaign has continued to pressure Sanders over those votes as Clinton seeks to be the gun control candidate in the current cycle.
On Thursday, his Senate Twitter account posted a flurry of support for gun control while the senator spoke in favor of the Senate measures at a press conference on Capitol Hill. Sanders mentions many of the same measures on the presidential campaign trail when talking about gun violence.
The San Bernardino shooting was the 355th mass shooting this year. Gun violence has reached epidemic levels in the US. It must end.
We need sensible legislation that prevents guns from being used by people who should not have them.
We need universal background checks – something that is supported by 90% of the American people and the vast majority of gun owners.
We need to renew the assault weapons ban. We need to end the sale of high capacity magazines
We need to make gun trafficking a federal crime and give law enforcement the tools they need to get illegal guns off the streets.
The vast majority of the American people support gun safety legislation. Congress must act now.
We need to close the gun show loophole.
We need to close loopholes that allow domestic abusers and stalkers to obtain guns.
We need to strengthen penalties for straw purchasers who buy guns from licensed dealers on behalf of people prohibited from buying a gun.
We must greatly expand and improve our mental health capabilities so individuals and families can get help they need when they need it.