By Emma Cummins
Editorial Page Editor
This week, the country is still reeling from the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. With nine fatalities and the shooter having an impressive collection of guns, this week has inevitably invited the discussion of gun control.
Instead of diving into the pros and cons of gun control, I have decided to compile a list of the various reactions of politicians and figureheads on the topic and event.
Barack Obama
After the most recent shooting, Obama has doubled down on gun control. Prepared to maneuver Congress with a series of executive actions, the Obama administration has proposed that a new plan to solve this problem will be ready soon. Obama wishes to remove guns from the hands of criminals but no concrete plan has been given to us.
Hillary Clinton
Faithful to the end, Clinton has taken a liberal stance and decided to unveil a plan that will enact even more restrictions and tighter security for those who wish to buy a gun. Expanded background checks, repealing legislation that would protect gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers from certain liability suits, and prohibiting the selling of firearms to domestic abusers are three of the measures Clinton has suggested. Let’s just hope her list of promises does not get accidently deleted in her private email.
Bernie Sanders
In contrast to Clinton, Sanders has been surprisingly open minded to the topic. Back in 2005, Sanders voted to keep the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act which protects gun manufacturers from liability. Sanders also voted against a bill that would have requested federal background checks for all gun purchases. Sanders could be considered a moderate on this issue, and so a stronger candidate for strict gun control would be Clinton.
Donald Trump
This presidential candidate has a different viewpoint, one that may seem more pragmatic. Armed with the fact that no matter how hard one tries, someone will slip through the cracks and tragedies like this will happen, Trump has said that gun control is not the way to prevent these occurrences. For him, the presence of strict gun control laws has not prevented violence in areas such as Baltimore.
Ben Carson
Carson has said that enacting legislation on guns will only affect law-abiding citizens and will have no real effect on criminals. Carson’s solution is to instead of impose harsh rules, offer public gun-safety courses like other countries such as Switzerland, which has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world.
Jeb Bush
Bush is also very conservative in his approach to gun control. In 2005, he signed a bill that gave the right to individuals to use deadly force when when threatened in public places (Stand Your Ground Bill). Bush also supports instant background checks, concealed firearms and long prison sentences for using a gun illegally. While I have only listed a few here, the other major Republican candidates have almost the same views on gun control with a few variations here and there.
