Democratic candidates gathered in Sin City and went all in on gun control. Granted, it wasnt hard to do when the event was sponsored by gun control groups Giffords and March for Our Lives and the table dealer was a left wing cable news network that didnt even gamble their own ratings by putting it on their network. They live-streamed on the web instead. If you missed it, I dont blame you. Still, theres some big election-year ideas theyre betting on.
Bans
The field split on outright confiscation. They must have noticed that U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) isnt at the table anymore after he championed the idea. Former Congressman Robert Francis Beto ORourke continued to double down, offering up a poll that says the majority of Americans support a mandatory buyback (read: confiscation). Ill take action on the bet they didnt ask the more than 16 million modern sporting rifles owned by law- abiding Americans. Those are the semiautomatic AR-15 rifles they vilify, different from the rifle employed by the military. ORourke isnt the only one betting on this. U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) want in too.
CARTOONS | CHIP BOK VIEW CARTOON Every Democratic candidate believes banning an entire class of firearms the modern sporting rifle is a winning hand. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-Ind.) told reporters following the event that labeling the semiautomatic rifle as a weapon of war which is different from the military M-16 and M-4 isnt misleading. Buttigieg said he supports banning the sale of assault weapons, like what I carried in Afghanistan. Dont bet on black on this one, Mayor Pete. Theyre different firearms.
Register
Candidates offered differing plans to regulate ownership. Former Vice President Joe Biden let it roll on his recently released gun control plan that forces AR-15 owners to sell their rifles to the government or register them under the National Firearms Act, which would require registration, tax stamps, fingerprints and a government tracking for every modern sporting rifle. But wait, theres more. Biden wants to include magazines too.