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In her standard stump speech, Hillary Rodham Clinton talks about fighting income inequality, celebrating court rulings on gay marriage and health care, and, since the Emanuel AME Church massacre, toughening the nation’s gun laws.
That last component marks an important evolution in presidential politics. For at least the past several decades, Democrats seeking national office have often been timid on the issue of guns for fear of alienating firearms owners. In 2008, after Barack Obama took heat for his gaffe about people who “cling to guns or religion,” he rarely mentioned guns again — neither that year nor in his 2012 reelection campaign.
But in a sign that the political environment on guns has shifted in the wake of recent mass shootings — and of Clinton’s determination to stake out liberal ground in her primary race against insurgent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — Clinton is not only initiating a debate about gun control but also vowing to fight the National Rifle Association.
“I’m going to speak out against the uncontrollable use of guns in our country because I believe we can do better,” Clinton said Tuesday in Iowa City.
A few days earlier, she said in Hanover, N.H.: “We have to take on the gun lobby. . . . This is a controversial issue. I am well aware of that. But I think it is the height of irresponsibility not to talk about it.”
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That last component marks an important evolution in presidential politics. For at least the past several decades, Democrats seeking national office have often been timid on the issue of guns for fear of alienating firearms owners. In 2008, after Barack Obama took heat for his gaffe about people who “cling to guns or religion,” he rarely mentioned guns again — neither that year nor in his 2012 reelection campaign.
But in a sign that the political environment on guns has shifted in the wake of recent mass shootings — and of Clinton’s determination to stake out liberal ground in her primary race against insurgent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — Clinton is not only initiating a debate about gun control but also vowing to fight the National Rifle Association.
“I’m going to speak out against the uncontrollable use of guns in our country because I believe we can do better,” Clinton said Tuesday in Iowa City.
A few days earlier, she said in Hanover, N.H.: “We have to take on the gun lobby. . . . This is a controversial issue. I am well aware of that. But I think it is the height of irresponsibility not to talk about it.”
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In what the Washington Post describes as marking "an important evolution in presidential politics," Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is now openly declaring that she will "take on the gun lobby" and push for stricter gun control laws.
In Hanover, N.H. last Friday, Clinton said to the gathered students and Democrat supporters that it was time to go after the NRA:
"We have to take on the gun lobby one more time," she said. "At the very least, we need to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, people with serious mental challenges, terrorists, all of whom now are perfectly free to go and find a gun somewhere. This is a controversial issue, I am well aware of that. But I think it is the height of irresponsibility not to talk about it. So I will talk about it."
She repeated the call for an aggressive gun control push in Iowa City Tuesday, announcing, "I’m going to speak out against the uncontrollable use of guns in our country because I believe we can do better."
As WaPo notes, for decades Democratic presidential candidates have avoided open calls for restricting 2nd Amendment rights "for fear of alienating firearms owners." Even Barack Obama declined to say much on the issue in both of his campaigns, particularly after his disparaging "cling to guns or religion" comment came to light during his 2008 campaign.
But now, apparently feeling pressure from her far-left Democratic competition, socialist Bernie Sanders, Clinton is attempting to win over more of her leftist base by going after guns, something on which Clinton has "a more progressive record."
The NRA has responded to Clinton's declaration of war on the gun lobby by pointing to the Clintons' own past failures.
"We’ve been down this road before with the Clintons," said a spokesman of *NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "She needs to read her husband's book."
LaPierre's reference is to a passage in Bill Clinton's memoir My Life, which suggested that Al Gore lost the 2000 presidential election in part because of backlash in pro-gun states over his administration's temporary ban on assault weapons in 1995.
In Hanover, N.H. last Friday, Clinton said to the gathered students and Democrat supporters that it was time to go after the NRA:
"We have to take on the gun lobby one more time," she said. "At the very least, we need to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, people with serious mental challenges, terrorists, all of whom now are perfectly free to go and find a gun somewhere. This is a controversial issue, I am well aware of that. But I think it is the height of irresponsibility not to talk about it. So I will talk about it."
She repeated the call for an aggressive gun control push in Iowa City Tuesday, announcing, "I’m going to speak out against the uncontrollable use of guns in our country because I believe we can do better."
As WaPo notes, for decades Democratic presidential candidates have avoided open calls for restricting 2nd Amendment rights "for fear of alienating firearms owners." Even Barack Obama declined to say much on the issue in both of his campaigns, particularly after his disparaging "cling to guns or religion" comment came to light during his 2008 campaign.
But now, apparently feeling pressure from her far-left Democratic competition, socialist Bernie Sanders, Clinton is attempting to win over more of her leftist base by going after guns, something on which Clinton has "a more progressive record."
The NRA has responded to Clinton's declaration of war on the gun lobby by pointing to the Clintons' own past failures.
"We’ve been down this road before with the Clintons," said a spokesman of *NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "She needs to read her husband's book."
LaPierre's reference is to a passage in Bill Clinton's memoir My Life, which suggested that Al Gore lost the 2000 presidential election in part because of backlash in pro-gun states over his administration's temporary ban on assault weapons in 1995.
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