Sen. Cory Booker on Monday rolled out a sweeping gun-control agenda that includes requiring licenses for all gun owners, one of the most aggressive gun-related proposals from a 2020 Democrat.
The 14-part plan is part of what the New Jersey Democrat said was a “personal fight” to combat a gun violence "epidemic.
" It's sure to meet with fierce pushback from gun-rights groups like the National Rifle Association and faces an uncertain fate in Congress.What would the plan do?
The core of the New Jersey senator’s proposal is a federal gun-licensing program that would require, among other things, a comprehensive FBI background check and proof of completion of a gun-safety course. After a license is approved, holders “could freely purchase and own firearms” for the five-year duration of their license, “with regular, automatic checks to flag non-compliance with license terms” and the possibility of renewal.
The plan would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as bump stocks, and it calls for instituting a universal background check system that would be enforced on sales at gun shows and in private and online sales. In addition, Booker has proposed requiring gun manufacturers to implement a technology for handguns known as microstamping, which he said would help police trace bullet shell casings to the guns that fired them.
Booker also pledged to place restrictions on bulk gun purchases, limiting buys to one handgun per month; to open the door for gun dealers and manufacturers to face lawsuits for negligence; and to close the so-called boyfriend loophole that exempts dating partners from laws aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of those convicted of abuse of a spouse.
The plan would lift a ban on federal funding for gun-violence research, and it would bring more oversight to the industry by allowing regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and by increasing funding to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, whose enforcement abilities Booker said were hamstrung by Congress.
Booker also vowed to go after the NRA specifically, citing recent media reports that the massively powerful group had mismanaged its finances and calling for the IRS to reexamine the group's tax-exempt status.
The blueprint calls for “incentivizing states” to pass so-called red-flag laws, under which family members or law enforcement could petition a court to temporarily take firearms from individuals exhibiting warning signs of violence. Such measures gained national attention after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, following reports that multiple red flags about the shooter's potential for violence had been ignored.
How would it work?
Booker has not outlined precisely how he would enact such sweeping reforms but calls for a mix of executive action, legislation and funding increases. Booker said the proposal would keep what he considers the worst weapons out of dangerous hands, increase resources for enforcement, study what he refers to as an “epidemic” of gun violence and invest in communities most prone to it.
What have other Democrats proposed?
Other Democrats have called for boosting gun restrictions, including universal background checks, banning assault weapons and red-flag laws. But Booker's plan, including requiring licenses for gun owners, goes beyond the proposals of others in the 2020 field.
Booker has touted a 2015 study that found gun homicides dropped by 40 percent after Connecticut instituted a statewide gun licensing program similar to the one he’s proposed.
Who opposes it?
The NRA has resisted most efforts at curtailing access to guns, as have most Republicans in Congress and even some rural Democrats. While public polling suggests high levels of support even among NRA members for policies like universal background checks, other parts of Booker’s plan are certain to be more divisive among proponents of the Second Amendment.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine