Issue Position: The Second Amendment

Issue Position

I am honored to be recognized by Moms Demand Action as a Gun Sense Candidate.

Mission: I come from a family of hunters and I will protect the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners. At the same time, gun violence is an epidemic in this country and we cannot ignore the ongoing mass shootings in our schools and communities. Research has shown that the number one reason for mass murders in our country is the easy availability of large numbers of guns. There are practical and common sense actions that can and must be taken to ensure those seeking to commit violent acts do not have easy access to guns.

Removing special interests. We must start by removing for profit special interest groups from the table and instead, bring responsible gun owners in because the vast majority of them support common sense legislation aimed at reducing gun violence. I will not accept money for my campaign from the NRA. Negotiating solutions to our gun violence epidemic must be done without the interference of special interests.
Closing loopholes. Twenty-two percent of guns are obtained without a background check. I support universal background checks and closing loopholes that allow criminals and terrorists easy access to firearms, such as the "gun show loophole" where felons and other prohibited individuals are able to purchase firearms through private sales.
Keeping guns away from criminals. I support "No Fly, No Buy" restrictions for individuals listed on the FBI's Terror Screening Center's database of suspected terrorists. If they are banned from boarding planes, they should not be able to purchase a gun. I also support legislation that would prevent convicted domestic abusers and other violent criminals from purchasing guns.
Banning "military-grade" weapons. I support a ban on high-capacity magazines, silencers, bump stocks, and other similar devices designed to substantially accelerate semi-automatic weapons' rate of fire.
Ensuring agencies follow enforcement measures. We must also implement enforcement measures to ensure that government agencies responsible for reporting criminal behavior of individuals that would block them from purchasing guns actually follow through with their obligations.
Boosting community programs. I support community programs that provide training in responsible gun ownership and address gun violence.
Funding research. I also will advocate for Federal funding that has long since been blocked by politicians to the Center for Disease Control to conduct research on effective and commonsense approaches to prevent violent crime.

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