For a man who has built the case for his presidency on the idea that he is the most progressive presidential candidate in the race, Bernie Sanders’ record on guns says otherwise. In fact, Yahoo’s Matt Bai wrote that “the logic Sanders deploys to defend his record on guns just happens to undermine the very core of his case for the presidency – and his case against Hillary Clinton, too.” Sanders is far from progressive on guns and stands in stark contrast to President Obama, Hillary Clinton and other progressives who have made reducing gun violence a top priority.
Check out what others have said about Sanders’ record on guns:
- New York Times editorial board: “Mr. Sanders’s record on guns is relatively weak.” “Mrs. Clinton is a strong advocate of sensible and effective measures to combat the plague of firearms; Mr. Sanders’s record on guns is relatively weak.” [New York Times editorial, 1/30/16]
- Brady Campaign president: Bernie Sanders misrepresented his record on gun safety. “In a conference call with reporters, Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which has endorsed Mrs. Clinton, said that in some ways, the fact that Mr. Sanders was feeling ‘compelled to misrepresent his record’ was a positive sign that gun regulation was now a winning issue, and one in which it was ‘no longer politically expedient to pander’ on.” [New York Times, 1/25/16]
- Brady Campaign president excoriated Bernie Sanders’s “disgraceful record” on guns, including his support of the “truly evil” liability shield legislation. [New York Times, 1/25/16]
- Brady Campaign president on Bernie Sanders’s calling himself a lifelong advocate: “A lot of real advocates out there find it offensive.” [New York Times, 1/25/16]
- Yahoo headline: “On guns, Sanders has an authenticity problem.” [Yahoo, 1/7/16]
- Coalition to Stop Gun Violence spokesman: Bernie Sanders’s reconsideration of his position on shielding gun manufacturers from lawsuits is “not quite enough.” [Huffington Post, 10/13/15]
- Sanders biographer: “Bernie Sanders has played both sides on gun rights and gun control. If you don’t think that’s a political calculation, you’re crazy.” [New York Times, 12/1/15]
- Yahoo’s Matt Bai on Bernie Sanders’s gun record: “Not all votes carry the same weight, and if you know what you’re talking about, it’s hard to see Sanders’ record as anything but grossly pro-industry.” [Yahoo, 1/7/16]
- Yahoo’s Matt Bai: “On the two most meaningful pieces of gun legislation in American history […] Sanders came out on the side of industry. Whatever other votes he’s taken since becoming a senator […] have to be considered less consequential.” [Yahoo, 1/7/16]
- Yahoo’s Matt Bai: “You can’t very well say that it’s all right for Sanders to look out for rural gun sellers in Vermont (over the welfare of poor kids in Chicago or Los Angeles), and yet somehow Clinton is the embodiment of venality because she took money and advice from Wall Street.” [Yahoo, 1/7/16]