Voting Guide •
February 27th, 2024
2024 Voter Guide: Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Gun Control
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Updated February 28, 2024
What do the 2024 presidential candidates think about gun control, and how do their stances compare?
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms. In recent years, gun death rates and mass shootings have led some to call into question how guns should be regulated.
Here's where the candidates fall.
Topics:
Gun Ownership
Joe Biden (D)
He signed an executive order with the goal to “require background checks on all sales and to implicate a more extensive screening process.” Also included were hopes to increase public awareness about gun violence, to increase red-flag laws, and to “address the loss or theft of firearms during shipping.” He also proposed a national gun registry and planned to regulate the possession of existing assault weapons through registration reform: “‘This will give individuals who now possess assault weapons or high-capacity magazines two options: sell the weapons to the government, or register them under the National Firearms Act,"’ the plan reads. He also hopes to implement background checks for all. He has called on Congress to eliminate loopholes in the dating violence restraining order and to repeal “gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability” (gun manufacturers are not immune from liability and are not exempt from being sued, though there are some liability protections). He also spoke out about restricting and tracking ghost guns and signed a bipartisan gun safety bill, which included funding for states to implement red flag programs.
Donald Trump (R)
As president, his administration planned to outlaw bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic firearms to fire continuously—a move that the NRA was “disappointed” with. Trump believes, in response to gun violence, that, "This is not a gun problem…This is a mental health problem, this is a social problem, this is a cultural problem, this is a spiritual problem." He designated gun businesses to be “critical infrastructure” during the pandemic, allowing them to remain open. Additionally, he loosened regulation on the export of firearms. Pertaining to red-flag laws, he reversed an Obama-era rule restricting gun purchases by people who were deemed mentally unable to manage their affairs by the Social Security Administration. In the past, he has suggested openness to strengthening background checks but not concretely, telling reporters that, “We have tremendous support for really common-sense, sensible, important background checks.” Trump pledged to end gun-free zones in schools and military bases, stating "I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools -- you have to -- and on military bases on my first day. It gets signed on my first day. You know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? That's bait."
Marianne Williamson (D)
In 2020, Williamson said, "I support gun safety measures including universal background checks, a federal red flag law, a ban on assault weapons and bump stocks, and a requirement to have a license to own a gun. We need a license to drive cars, we should require the same for guns. I support a waiting period for gun purchases, and reinstatement of funds to research gun violence. I will establish a U.S. Department of Peace. Gun violence is a symptom and we must also address the cause. Many elements foster violent behavior, and I will lead a national effort to create a nonviolent society."
Cornel West (Ind.)
He has emphasized that discussions on gun control must consider historical context: “I knew that a discourse about gun control has so much to do about context. It has so much to do with how they have them and what kind of guns they are.” He has said that “I don’t think guns are the place to start. That’s why I’m an abolitionist about poverty, indecent housing, unavailable healthcare, and not enough jobs with a living wage.” He supports tightened requirements to own a firearm, as well as red-flag laws.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Ind.)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed doubts on the viability of gun control, stating he does not think that “there's anything that we can meaningfully do to reduce the trade and the ownership of guns” after the Supreme Court ruling that allowed the concealed carry of handguns in public areas. However, in a statement on X, he previously said that the NRA is “a terror group.” In response to red-flag laws, he has stated that “I’m not going to take people’s guns away.”
"Assault Weapons"
RELATED: Dispelling Confusion Around the Term "Assault Weapons"
Joe Biden (D)
In an op-ed that he wrote, Biden called on Congress to ban all "assault weapons" and high-capacity magazines: “Congress must act, including by banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, requiring gun owners to securely store their firearms, requiring background checks for all gun sales, and repealing gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.”
Donald Trump (R)
According to the New York Times (Lean Left bias), "Mr. Trump never pursued an assault weapons ban, though he had called for one in his 2000 book, 'The America We Deserve' — in which he also criticized Republicans for opposing even limited gun restrictions." He has stated that he sees “no political appetite” in Congress for a ban on assault rifles, doubting its ability to pass.
Marianne Williamson (D)
"Assault weapons are used as weapons of war, and should not be sold to private citizens," reads Williamson's website.
Cornel West (Ind.)
No explicit stance found, but West once criticized the New York Police Department for "carrying assault weapons" during raids.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Ind.)
He has said that, “I believe in the Constitution and I'm not going to take everyone's guns away.” He also has stated that he would support a "bipartisan assault weapons ban," according to The Hill (Center bias).
Armed Personnel in Schools
Joe Biden (D)
Biden has said he is open to increasing security in schools but not to “hardening” schools with firearms. In response to the idea of armed personnel in schools, he said that teaching should not be a “life-threatening” job.
Donald Trump (R)
Trump has suggested arming school teachers as a response to shootings, giving them extra pay as an incentive: “You give them a little bit of a bonus, so practically for free, you have now made the school into a hardened target.” He has clarified that teachers would require special training in order to be armed: “I don’t want teachers to have guns, I want certain highly adept people, people that understand weaponry, guns — if they really have that aptitude.” He has also suggested that buildings should have single point of entry, stronger fencing, and metal detectors.
Marianne Williamson (D)
No stance found.
Cornel West (Ind.)
No stance found.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Ind.)
In 2023, he said: “when I was a kid, there were schools that I went to where we had shooting clubs, and the kids brought their rifles to school and practiced. Kids always had access to guns.”
This blog was written by Harry Ding, content intern (Center bias). It was reviewed and edited by Editor-in-chief Henry A. Brechter (Center bias), News Assistant Malayna Bizier (Right bias), Director of Bias Ratings Julie Mastrine (Lean Right bias), and News Editor/Content Designer Joseph Ratliff (Lean Left bias).
