Face of Nation : Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren pledged on Saturday to use executive powers to curb gun violence if she wins the White House as fellow Democratic candidates prepared to demand gun safety reforms at an Iowa forum.
After back-to-back mass shootings last weekend roiled the nation, Warren said she would impose background check requirements, more reporting on multiple gun purchases and expand age restrictions to limit teenage access to guns. “In 2017, almost 40,000 people died from guns in the United States,” the Massachusetts politiciansaid. “My goal as president and our goal as a society will be to reduce that number by 80 percent.”
Warren’s proposals built on rising calls for gun control across the party’s crowded field of candidates. Seventeen Democratic candidates were expected to address the issue at a Saturday forum hosted by the advocacy groupEverytown for Gun Safety in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa is a key focus of campaigning because in February the statewill hold the first nominating contest in the Democraticpresidential primaries ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Many have called for measures such as an assault weapon bans, universal background checks and other gun-control reforms long stymied by partisan fighting in Washington. The issue has seen a renewed debate, including attention from the White House and some Republicans in Congress after 31 people were killed last weekend in shootings in Texas and Ohio. Democrats have criticized Republican President Donald Trump’s mixed messages this week on possible support for some gun control measures. Trump on Friday suggested that he could sway the nation’s powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, to drop its opposition to gun restrictions.
