Clinton Charges Trump Of "Pandering" To The Gun Lobby

Hillary Clinton assured the public Saturday that she would never "pander to the gun lobby" even as she attacked Republican Donald Trump as "dangerous and hopelessly out of step with American public opinion" where gun control is concerned.

"Enough is enough," Clinton said, following a charge by Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, that accused her of wanting to ban the Second Amendment. He had told members of the National Rifle Association on Friday that they could "kiss your guns goodbye" if Clinton became President.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had slammed rival Hillary Clinton, firm that he would ban "gun-free zones" at the NRA Leadership Forum in Louisville May 20.

Clinton had said: "Unlike Donald Trump, I will not pander to the gun lobby, and we will not be silenced and we will not be intimidated." She was addressing an anti-violence and gun control event named for Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Florida teenager who had been targeted by a Neighborhood Watch volunteer in 2012.

"We know the gun lobby is powerful. I believe it's the most powerful lobby in Washington," Clinton said. "And we know that some candidates will say and do anything to keep them happy."

Hence, gun control seems to be an important issue for both the candidates. Even as Trump moves away from being a supporter of limited gun control to such an extent that he would now not permit any "chipping away" of the Second Amendment, Clinton has moved the other way since her unsuccessful 2008 campaign against then-Sen. Barack Obama. While earlier, she had supported the importance of guns in some areas of the country, she has now backed off from her earlier support for national licensing and registration.

She is making gun control an important center of her campaign. She has pledged that she wants to act both with Congress as well as on her own to put into place some "common sense" limitations on gun purchases. She has also promised that she would search for legislation to put an end to immunity from a number of lawsuits for gunmakers.

While she affirms that she does not have any designs on the Second Amendment, fact-checkers discredit Trump's declaration that she wanted to abolish it. Limited gun control is seen to be important for the fall election, appealing to moderate women. It is an issue that can also be used to tar both Trump and Republicans congressional candidates as "extremists."

 "We are smart enough and strong enough as a nation to figure out how to protect the rights of responsible gun owners while keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, other violent criminals, gang members, the severely mentally ill," Clinton said Saturday. "I know we can do this and despite all the political noise, we are actually united on this issue."

She mocked Trump's pledge at the NRA annual convention to end gun-free zones at schools and bring down actions that expanded requirements for background checks before guns were purchased. She vowed that as president she wanted to broaden the background checks on the unrestricted sales online as well as at gun shows.

"Donald Trump said that in his very first hour as president, heaven forbid, he would overturn President Obama's actions to strengthen background checks," Clinton said.

"This is someone running to be President of the United States of America, a country facing a gun violence epidemic, and he's talking about more guns in our schools," she exclaimed.

With reference to her friendship with Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, who was also present in the crowd for the Trayvon Martin Foundation dinner, Clinton said: "Each of the mothers is telling us something that we all need to hear, not just about our tragedies but about our country," Clinton said. "Something is wrong when so many young people just starting their lives are dying."