She’s taking a stance. Hillary Clinton called for stricter gun control laws in the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub shooting during a rally at the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center on Monday, June 13.
According to Fox 8 News Cleveland, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, 68, told supporters, “I originally intended to come to Cleveland under much different circumstances. But today is not a day for politics. This is a moment when all Americans need to stand together.”
“It’s essential we stop terrorists from getting the tools they need to carry out their attacks,” she said in her first speech since Sunday morning’s shooting at Pulse nightclub, which left 49 dead and 53 injured. “And that is especially true when it comes to assault weapons like the ones used in Orlando and San Bernardino. Weapons of war have no place on our streets.”
NBC News reported that shooter Omar Mateen was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, the same lethal weapon used in the December 2015 shooting in San Bernardino, California; the December 2012 elementary school shooting in Newton, Connecticut; and the July 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado.
Clinton then voiced her support for a bill that would forbid individuals on the FBI’s terrorist watch list from purchasing a firearm. As previously reported, Mateen had been on the FBI’s radar since 2013 and was interviewed on three separate occasions. The investigations were later closed after it was determined that Mateen did not appear to be a threat.
“We may have our disagreements about gun safety regulation but we should all be able to agree on a few essential things,” Clinton said on Monday, according to the New York Daily News. “If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn’t be able to just buy a gun with no questions asked. And you should not be able to exploit loopholes and avoid criminal background checks by buying online or at a gun show. And yes, if you’re too dangerous to get on a plane, you’re too dangerous to buy a gun in America. This may not stop every shooting or every terrorist attack. But they will stop some, and it will save lives.”
