New York Sen. [crscore]Kirsten Gillibrand[/crscore] sounded off on the gun rights debate in a recent podcast interview and said that it has nothing to do with hunting or the Second Amendment.
Gillibrand, who is supporting Hillary Clinton for president, also said that she wants the gun issue to be a “woman’s issue” and that she hopes for a day when Congress is made up of 51 percent women so that tougher gun control laws will be enacted.
“Oftentimes I think we have more ability to empathize,” Gillibrand told Politico’s Glenn Thrush, who hosts the podcast “Off Message.”
“That’s one of the reasons why I want 51 percent of women in Congress, I think a lot of these issues would be foregone conclusions. I think if the women in America took over the gun issue and said ‘we’re going to have common sense gun reform because no mother should have to lose their child to horrible gun violence,’ you would have a different outcome.”
“This debate is relegated to the men,” she continued, her voice growing louder.
“It’s about hunting? It has nothing to do with hunting. Nothing in this debate has to do with hunting, and nothing in this debate has to do with the Second Amendment rights. Nothing.”
“I see the world in the lens of women’s issues. I’m making everything a woman’s issue. I want guns to be a woman’s issue,” she added.
The gun issue has become a point of contention in the New York Democratic primary race. Clinton has asserted that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has been too soft on gun control. She’s pointed to his support for a 2005 law that shielded gun manufacturers from being sued.
Sanders has said he will reconsider his position on the law if he’s elected president. But he’s also touted his D- rating from the National Rifle Association as evidence that he supports tougher gun laws. He has also pointed out that he has a different perspective on guns since he comes from a rural state.
“He doesn’t have the sensitivity he needs to horror that is happening in these families,” Gillibrand said of Sanders.