Democratic New Jersey Sen. and 2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker proposed sweeping gun control legislation on Monday.
Booker’s proposal would, among other things, force Americans to have a sit-down interview with a federal government employee in order to purchase a firearm. (RELATED: Cory Booker Pushes Back Against Critics, Says He Wants To Be With Rosario Dawson ‘Forever’)
During an appearance on CNN Monday morning, Booker was asked if he supported a gun buy-back proposal like the one offered by Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a long-shot presidential candidate. Booker did not endorse the proposal but said that America needs to get “weapons of war” off the streets.
Cory Booker won’t say whether he’ll jail Americans who refuse to surrender firearms they lawfully purchased if he’s president: pic.twitter.com/DTGDDLp2ud
— Mikhael Smits (@mikhaelsmits) May 6, 2019
Booker also refused to say whether he would prosecute those who refused to comply with a gun buyback.
“We should have a law that bans these weapons and we should have a reasonable period in which people can turn in these weapons,” Booker said.
When asked by CNN’s Jim Sciutto how he would push his proposal through, Booker compared the persistence of gun control activists to that of civil rights activists of the 1960s. (RELATED: 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates React To Mueller Report)
“Civil rights legislation failed time and time again,” Booker said. “But we brought a fight in the civil rights movement like Congress had never seen.”
When CNN’s Poppy Harlow pressed Booker specifically on his “mandatory interview” proposal, Booker would not say who would be conducting the interview, or what questions would be asked.
“Let’s not exaggerate what this is,” Booker said. “This is actually really simple. We do it for passports, we do it for TSA pre-check, we do it for people that are driving cars.”
WATCH:
In addition to his mandatory interview proposal, Booker would limit gun purchases to one handgun per month, ban “assault weapons” and instruct the IRS to conduct an investigation into the NRA’s tax status.
“Beginning on Day One in office, Cory will take executive action to build on ongoing efforts and take concrete steps forward — closing dangerous loopholes in gun sales, cracking down on unscrupulous dealers and gun manufacturers, and investing in communities impacted by gun violence,” Booker said in a medium post Monday, outlining his proposal.