US Senator Kamala Harris says that as President, she would give Congress 100 days to pass broad gun control legislation – and if it fails to do so, she would take executive action to expand background checks, revoke the licenses of gun dealers who break the law and restore fugitives to the list of people who cannot buy a handgun.
“Upon being elected, I will give Congress 100 days to get their act together and have the courage to pass reasonable gun safety laws,” Harris said at a town hall meeting sponsored by CNN at St. Anselm College. “And if they fail to do it, I will take executive action.”
An aide with Harris’ campaign said that the scope of her initiative would go beyond what she outlined at the town hall, and that she would also close the “boyfriend loophole” to prevent convicted domestic abusers from purchasing guns.
Harris’ comments came during a battle for voter attention as CNN hosted consecutive town hall events on Monday night with five Democratic presidential hopefuls. Harris was preceded by Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, with South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg following.
Like other Democratic candidates, Harris has made gun control a central part of her message, and she has now gone further than most of her rivals.