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THREAD: Let's talk about the stunning audacity required for Bernie Sanders to perform concern about gun violence in the US. Here is an overview of his support for the gun lobby, with receipts.
Sanders owes his presence in Congress in part to the NRA's support after he promised to oppose the Brady Bill: washingtonpost.com/politics/how-t…
Shortly after arriving in Congress in 1991, Sanders delivered on that promise, voting against the Brady Bill five separate times: politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…
In 1993, Sanders voted to shorten the time window for the government to conduct background checks on gun purchasers. This would later become known as the "Charleston loophole":
politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…
politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…
In 1996, Sanders teamed up with the GOP to defeat Rep. Nita Lowey's effort to reverse the Dickey Amendment, which prohibits the CDC from conducting research on gun violence: bostonglobe.com/opinion/editor…
More on the Dickey Amendment: medium.com/@emperor65/the…
In 2005, Sanders voted to grant sweeping legal immunity to the gun industry: motherjones.com/politics/2016/…
Sanders didn't support similar immunity for the fast food industry - only guns: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Sanders continues to defend his vote for weapons manufacturer immunity: nydailynews.com/news/politics/…
Needless to say, the NRA appreciates Sanders' willingness to stand firm against the grieving families of Sandy Hook:
Sanders' disingenuous explanations for his positions on the Brady Bill, the Charleston loophole, and weapons manufacturer immunity earned him two Pinocchios apiece from the Washington Post fact checkers: washingtonpost.com/news/fact-chec…
In 2006, Sanders voted to increase the burden of proof for the ATF to prosecute law-breaking gun dealers, as part of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms reform bill: congress.gov/bill/109th-con…
In 2007, Sanders voted for an appropriations amendment prohibiting US funding of any international organizations that require the registration of guns owned by US citizens: congress.gov/amendment/110t…
The impetus for this amendment was the conspiracy theory that United Nations research into gun control & arms trafficking was secretly a front for a UN plan to disarm everyone but UN troops and "spell doom for freedom anywhere in the world." fas.org/asmp/resources…
In 2008, Sanders voted to prohibit allowing the use of Indian Health Care Improvement Act funds for anti-gun programs: congress.gov/amendment/110t…
In 2009, Sanders voted to repeal the District of Columbia's ban on semi-automatic weapons, its firearms registration requirements, and its ban on handgun ammunition, and to strip the DC Council of authority to regulate firearms: congress.gov/bill/111th-con…
Also in 2009, Sanders voted to allow the use of firearms in national parks, stripping the Secretary of the Interior of the authority to prohibit guns on park property: congress.gov/amendment/111t…
That bill overrode the Brady Campaign's successful litigation enjoining a Bush-era regulation allowing concealed carry in national parks: nationalparkstraveler.org/2008/12/brady-…
In 2009, Sanders voted to overrule a ban on guns on Amtrak trains, citing the improbable scenario of hunters taking a train to go on a hunting trip: thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders…
Sanders capped off 2009 by voting to amend the Affordable Care Act to bar insurers from charging higher insurance premiums for gun owners, and bar HHS and insurers from collecting data on firearm ownership: congress.gov/amendment/111t…
This provision was inserted to address conspiracy theories that the ACA was a front for a secret Obama plot to take away everyone's guns 🙄, and to prevent the NRA from opposing the law: forbes.com/sites/rickunga…
In 2016, the only non-Republican in the top 25 recipients of gun lobby campaign cash was.... Bernie Sanders.
marketwatch.com/story/lawmaker…
marketwatch.com/story/lawmaker…
Now it's 2019 and Sanders is welcoming back campaign surrogate Killer Mike, a gun rights activist who made an NRA video in which he bragged about threatening to throw his kids out if they participated in school walkouts protesting gun massacres: time.com/5214726/killer…
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