NRA-ILA
In 1993, then-First Lady Clinton told Congress (at 2:00:30 in the video), she was “all for” a 25 percent tax on handguns and “automatic weapons.”
In 2000, campaigning for election to the U.S. Senate, Clinton boasted, “I’m the only candidate in this race who supports federal legislation to license handgun owners and register handguns.” She opposed Right-to-Carry laws and supported ballistic “fingerprinting,” lawsuits against firearm manufacturers, a ban on compact handguns, rationing of handgun purchases, banning the possession of handguns by adults under age 21, and empowering the Consumer Products Safety Commission to dictate the design of firearms, which gun control supporters have longed viewed as a way to have handguns banned altogether.
As a U.S. Senator, Clinton called for legislation to extend the federal “assault weapon” and “large” magazine ban of 1994. She voted for legislation to require background checks on private sales of firearms at gun shows and legislation to ban most rifle ammunition as “armor piercing.” And she voted against legislation that protects the firearm industry from reckless lawsuits and legislation that prohibits the confiscation of firearms during emergencies and major disasters.
In 2008, Clinton said, “we should reinstate the assault weapons ban.” In May 2014, Clinton said (at 30:33 in the video), “I think again we’re way out of balance. I think that we’ve got to rein in what has become an almost article of faith that anybody can have a gun anywhere, anytime.” And in June 2014, Clinton endorsed (at 27:42 in the video) a ban on “assault weapons” and “high-capacity” magazines, along with mandatory background checks on private firearm sales, and said “We cannot let a minority of people [gun owners] . . . hold a viewpoint that terrorizes the majority of people.”
