If there's a serious problem facing this country, Elizabeth Warren doesn't just want to talk about it -- she wants to solve it.One of the most serious problems facing this country is the epidemic of gun violence. Last year, there were nearly 40,000 gun deaths in the United States. And the U.S. is averaging more than one mass shooting for every day of this year.
It's obvious to any rational person that something must be done to curb the epidemic of gun violence.
Senator Warren has a plan -- a very ambitious plan that she believes could cut the number of gun deaths each year by 80%.
Of course, her plan would require two things to start with (in addition to her being elected president). It would need a Democratic majority in both the House and Senate -- and it would need the Senate filibuster rule to be changed or eliminated (so a mere 41 Republican senators could not block any bills she would send to Congress).
Here is the plan she is proposing:
Enough is enough. Lasting gun reform requires the elimination of the filibuster.
Legislation to Reduce Gun Violence
When I am president, I will send Congress comprehensive legislation containing our best ideas about what will work to reduce gun violence.It starts by ensuring that safe, responsible ownership is the standard for everyone who chooses to own a gun. We’ll do that by:
- Creating a federal licensing system. States with strict licensing requirements experience "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/gun-owner-responsibilities/licensing/" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">lower rates of gun trafficking and violence. A license is required to drive a car, and Congress should establish a similarly straightforward federal licensing system for the purchase of any type of firearm or ammunition.
- Requiring universal background checks. I’ll expand background checks via executive action — but Congress should act to permanently mandate universal background checks. And I’ll push Congress to close the so-called “"); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/6/18253165/background-check-bill-charleston-loophole" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">Charleston loophole” that allows a sale to proceed after three days even if the background check is not complete.
- Increasing taxes on gun manufacturers. Since"); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.ttb.gov/firearms/reference_guide.shtml" class="bx dh lg lh li lj"> 1919, the federal government has imposed an excise tax on manufacturers and importers of guns and ammunition. Handguns are taxed at 10% and other guns and ammunition are taxed at 11%. These taxes raise less in revenue than the federal excise tax on cigarettes, domestic wine, or even airline tickets. It’s time for Congress to raise those rates — to 30% on guns and 50% on ammunition — both to reduce new gun and ammunition sales overall and to bring in new federal revenue that we can use for gun violence prevention and enforcement of existing gun laws.
- Establishing a real waiting period. Waiting periods prevent impulsive gun violence, reducing gun suicides by "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/46/12162" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">7–11% and gun homicides by "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/46/12162.short" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">17%. Over the past 5 years, a national handgun waiting period would have stopped "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/46/12162" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">at least 4,550 gun deaths. The federal government should establish a one-week waiting period for all firearm purchases.
- Capping firearms purchases. About "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/crime-guns/bulk-gun-purchases/" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">one out of four of firearms recovered at the scene of a crime were part of a bulk purchase. Congress should limit the number of guns that can be purchased to one per month, similar to a "); text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.vacps.org/images/fact-sheet-on-one-handgun-a-month-law.pdf" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">Virginia law that successfully reduced the likelihood of Virginia-bought guns being used in criminal activity.
- Creating a new federal anti-trafficking law. Congress should make clear that trafficking firearms or engaging in “straw purchases” — when an individual buys a gun on behalf of a prohibited purchaser — are federal crimes. This would give law enforcement new tools to crack down on gun trafficking and help keep guns out of the wrong hands.
- Raising the minimum age for gun purchases. I’ll extend existing age requirements to virtually all sales, but federal law is currently conflicting — for example, a person must be 21 to purchase a handgun from a federally licensed dealer, but only 18 to purchase a rifle. Congress should set the federal minimum age at 21 for all gun sales.
We can also do more to keep military-style assault weapons off our streets. We’ll do that by:
- Passing a new federal assault weapons ban. The 1994 federal assault weapons ban successfully "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2013/05/more-proof-assault-weapons-ban-worked/5578/" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">reduced gun deaths but was allowed to expire ten years later. Congress should again ban the future production, sale, and importation of military-style assault weapons, and require individuals already in possession of assault weapons to register them under the National Firearms Act. Just as we did successfully with machine guns after the passage of that law, we should establish a buyback program to allow those who wish to do so to return their weapon for safe disposal, and individuals who fail to register or return their assault weapon should face penalties.
- Banning high-capacity ammunition magazines. High-capacity magazines were used in 57% of mass shootings from 2009 to 2015, allowing the shooters to target large numbers of people without stopping to reload. Congress should enact a federal ban on large-capacity magazines for all firearms, setting reasonable limits on the lethality of these weapons.
- Prohibiting accessories that make weapons more deadly. Gun manufacturers sell increasingly deadly gun accessories, including silencers, trigger cranks, and other mechanisms that increase the rate of fire or make semi-automatic weapons fully automatic. Congress should ban these dangerous accessories entirely.
We should also do everything possible to keep guns out of the hands of those at highest risk of violence. We’ll do that by:
- Passing extreme risk protection laws. Extreme risk protection orders allow families and law enforcement to petition to temporarily restrict access to firearms for individuals in crisis or at elevated risk of harming themselves or others. Congress should pass a federal extreme risk law and create a grant system to incentivize states to enact their own laws that clearly define extreme risk.
- Prohibiting anyone convicted of a hate crime from owning a gun. Too often, guns are used in acts of mass violence intended to provoke fear in minority communities; more than "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://everytownresearch.org/disarm-hate/" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">10,000 hate crimes involve a gun every year. Any individual convicted of a hate crime should be permanently prohibited from owning a gun, full stop.
- Protecting survivors of domestic abuse. Domestic violence and gun violence are deeply connected — in an average month, more than "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://everytownresearch.org/reports/guns-violence-women-americas-uniquely-lethal-domestic-violence-problem/" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">50 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. I’ll close the boyfriend loophole, but Congress should make that permanent, and expand the law to include individuals with restraining orders or who have been convicted of stalking.
- Securing our schools. Parents shouldn’t have to buy "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/06/bullet-resistant-backpacks-have-become-another-back-to-school-staple.html" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">bullet-proof backpacks for their children — guns have no place on our campuses or in our schools. Congress should improve the Gun-Free School Zones Act to include college and university campuses, and apply to individuals licensed by a state or locality to carry a firearm.
If we want real, long-lasting change, we must also hold the gun industry accountable, including online sites that look the other way when sellers abuse their platforms. We’ll do that by:
- Repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Nearly every other industry has civil liability as a check on irresponsible actions, but a 2005 law insulates firearms and dealers from civil liability when a weapon is used to commit a crime, even in cases when dealers were shockingly irresponsible. No one should be above the law, and that includes the gun industry. Congress should repeal this law, immediately.
- Holding gun manufacturers strictly liable for the harm they cause through a federal private right of action. Gun manufacturers make billions in profit by"); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/dayton-shooter-s-gun-reason-he-killed-9-30-seconds-ncna1039571" class="bx dh lg lh li lj"> knowingly selling"); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/injury.htm" class="bx dh lg lh li lj"> deadly products. Then they are let completely off the hook when people take those deadly products and inflict harm on thousands of victims each year. State tort law already recognizes that certain types of products and activities are so abnormally dangerous that the entities responsible for them should be held strictly liable when people are injured. Congress should codify that same principle at the federal level for guns by creating a new private right of action allowing survivors of gun violence to hold the manufacturer of the weapon that harmed them strictly liable for"); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/compensatory_damages" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">compensatory damages to the victim or their family.
- Strengthening ATF. The NRA has long sought to hobble the ATF, lobbying against "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-atf-director-20110907-story.html" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">staffing and funding increases for the agency and getting its congressional allies to impose "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.thetrace.org/2016/08/atf-non-searchable-databases/" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">absurd restrictions on its work even as the agency struggled to meet its basic responsibilities. Congress should fully fund ATF’s regulatory and compliance programs and remove the riders and restrictions that prevent it from doing its job.
- Regulating firearms for consumer safety. Today there are "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.thetrace.org/2016/01/gun-safety-standards/" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">no federal safety standards for firearms produced in the United States. We can recall unsafe products from trampolines to children’s pajamas — but not defective guns. Congress should repeal the provision of law that prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from regulating the safety of firearms and their accessories.
- Tightening oversight for gun dealers. Today there is no requirement for federally-licensed gun shops to take even simple steps to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. Congress should pass basic safety standards for federally-licensed gun dealers, including employee background checks, locked cabinets, and up-to-date inventories of the weapons they have in stock.
- Holding gun industry CEOs personally accountable. I’ve proposed "); text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/3/18294308/elizabeth-warren-op-ed-wells-fargo-equifax" class="bx dh lg lh li lj">a lawthat would impose criminal liability and jail time for corporate executives when their company is found guilty of a crime or their negligence causes severe harm to American families — and that includes gun industry CEOs.
