2007 NAACP Presidential Primary Forum: on Gun Control

Barack Obama: Stop unscrupulous gun dealers dumping guns in cities

A: You know, when the massacre happened at Virginia Tech, I think all of us were grief stricken and shocked by the carnage. But in this year alone, in Chicago, we’ve had 34 Chicago public school students gunned down and killed. And for the most part, there has been silence. We know what to do. We’ve got to enforce the gun laws that are on the books. We’ve got to make sure that unscrupulous gun dealers aren’t loading up vans and dumping guns in our communities, because we know they’re not made in our communities. There aren’t any gun manufacturers here, right here in the middle of Detroit. But what we also have to do is to make sure that we change our politics so that we care just as much about those 30-some children in Chicago who’ve been shot as we do the children in Virginia Tech. That’s a mindset that we have to have in the White House and we don’t have it right now.

Bill Richardson: Attack poverty at the core of gun violence

A: I believe the key to reducing gun violence, which is a scourge in our cities and all over America, is to have strong instant background checks, to keep guns away from those that shouldn’t have them, those with criminal backgrounds, those that have mentally ill problems. But the key in eliminating gun violence is eliminating poverty, eliminating hate. What I would do as president is I would dramatically increase the minimum wage. I would expand child care. I would expand the earned income tax credit. I would have programs in this country to deal with those that are incarcerated, rehabilitation, treatment, education. Gun violence is a scourge, but we have to attack the core and that is poverty.

Dennis Kucinich: We have babies dying in the streets; ban handguns

A: I was mayor of Cleveland and I grew up in the city and you could sometimes hear gunshots as part of the music of the night. We know that there’s a Virginia Tech happening in this country every day. At least 32 people are killed every day with handguns. We know that over a period of 100 days, as many people are killed by handguns as died in 9/11 in this country. We know that there is a crisis of public safety and security. We have babies dying in the streets because of these handguns. Now, we’ve got to give a direct answer. It is time that we ban handguns. We have to do that in order to protect our cities. It is time that we took a position that says that the 14th Amendment, you know, that right to life, liberty, is just as important as the 2nd Amendment. It’s time that we took a stand on behalf of the health and safety of the American people and, as president, I’m ready to do that

Hillary Clinton: Get assault weapons & guns off the street

A: I think it’s important to remember that the crime rate was driven down, & gun violence was driven down in the 1990s because of a combination of policies, like 100,000 police on the street and getting assault weapons off the street, and because of a growing economy. 22 million new jobs gave people who were hopeless a better chance for a future. So I want to get back to what works. This administration has tried to kill the 100,000 police. You’ve got mayors whose police force is outgunned by the criminals and the gang-bangers. Assault weapons are back on the street. We’ve got to go and do what works again. In addition to having policies that will get guns off the street, we do have to give young men particularly a better chance of a future that includes educational & economic opportunities & second chances when they get caught up in the criminal justice system.

John Edwards: Don’t need AK-47 to hunt; renew assault weapons ban

A: There are problems with the instant background check system that we have today. That needs to be fixed. Those problems became obvious with the shooting at Virginia Tech. There are other things that need to be done, like closing the gun show loophole, and I believe in the Second Amendment, but I don’t believe you need an AK-47 to hunt. And I think we need to renew the assault weapons ban for that reason. But I also want to join in the idea that in addition to guns specifically and trying to do something to limit gun violence, we also need to create hope for so many young African-American men who think they’re either going to die or go to prison. They don’t see any hope whatsoever in their lives, which means we need to bring good jobs into the inner city so that they can support themselves, support their families.

Mike Gravel: Military culture causes more gun violence

A: The answer to that is to try to decrease the military culture in this country that’s been created over the last 50 years. That sustains the military industrial complex. It’s not that complex. When you take Americans and you teach them to solve problems with violence, they come home and they deal in violence. That’s our problem. When you talk about crime problems, you’re nine times more likely to get killed if you’re African-American. There’s a fellow by the name of Todd Tiahrt. He just has been sentenced to 25 years in Florida and all he did was the same thing as Rush Limbaugh did--had some pain pills, but he didn’t have any of those Viagra. That’s justice.