Elections

Clinton: I’ll Use Administrative Actions To Implement Gun Control Plan

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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MANCHESTER, N.H. — Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton threatened Monday to use unilaterally implement a new gun control plan if Congress does not pass her measures.

Her push for further gun control measures comes in the wake of the tragic shooting at a community college campus in Oregon last week.

The campaign platform includes a call for federal legislation mandating background checks on all private firearms transfers and sales. Clinton also wants to repeal the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.”

This legislation, which protects gun manufacturers and dealers from negligence when a firearm is used in an act of violence, was passed by both chambers and signed in 2005 by President George W. Bush. Clinton, who voted against the bill when she was a New York senator, said the legislation is a “dangerous law.”

Clinton also said that “if Congress won’t act,” she will take “administrative action to close” the so-called “gun show and internet sales loophole” and require that anyone trying to sell a significant number of guns be deemed “in the business” of selling firearms.

The seller, as a result, will be required to adhere to the same federal laws that licensed dealers must follow. (RELATED: Carson Reveals Why His Views On Gun Control Have Shifted)

Similar to the Bill Clinton administration’s Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, which later expired under the Bush administration, Clinton called for the ban of “military style weapons.”

“Military style assault weapons do not belong on our streets,” her platform reads. “They are a danger to law enforcement and to our communities. Clinton supports keeping assault weapons off our streets.”

Clinton also wants to crack down on gun stores and dealers who she says are non-compliant with federal law, as well as to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

Clinton said she wants to see legislation passed that will prohibit not only domestic abusers own a firearm, which is already outlawed, but also prohibit abusive persons in relationships from owning a firearm. Clinton wants to apply this mandate to stalkers as well.

Other measures on Clinton’s gun control platform are making straw purchases a federal crime and close rules and loopholes “in our laws and clarify that people involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment, such as the Virginia Tech shooter, are prohibited from buying guns.”