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Monday, March 18, 2024 | Back issues
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Swalwell Rolls Out Plan to End Gun Violence Near NRA Headquarters

Since announcing his presidential bid in April, Congressman Eric Swalwell has roiled gun owners and the National Rifle Association with calls for an assault rifle ban and a nationwide buyback plan.

(CN) – Since announcing his presidential bid in April, Congressman Eric Swalwell has roiled gun owners and the National Rifle Association with calls for an assault rifle ban and a nationwide buyback plan.

Now the California Democrat is taking aim at gun manufacturers’ bottom lines with a proposal that would open them up to lawsuits from the victims of gun violence and block online gun and ammunition sales.

Swalwell outlined his eight-point plan Monday, calling it an “ambitious, comprehensive national framework” for curbing gun violence.

"There's nothing that we propose here today that is at odds with what [the NRA] claims they stand for," Swalwell said at the news conference. "Keep your pistols, keep your rifles, keep your shotguns; but I happen to believe that we can do more to take the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of the most dangerous people."

Swalwell, 38, is basing his upstart presidential campaign primarily on gun-control and ending gun violence. He’s gone on a “gun violence listening tour” in places like Florida, Texas and Las Vegas to pitch himself as the best Democratic presidential candidate to take on the NRA and gun manufacturers.

Swalwell’s latest proposal calls for prosecuting gun owners who refuse to sell back semiautomatic assault weapons, limiting gun owners from buying more than 200 rounds in a 30-day period and surprise audits of federally licensed firearms dealers. He wants to increase grant funding for gun violence prevention programs, ensure that every public school district has at least one social worker per every 700 students and bar schools from arming teachers.

Joining Swalwell outside the NRA headquarters in Virginia, Fred Guttenberg recounted the pain of spending Father’s Day without his daughter Jamie, who was killed in the 2018 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

“We can, we will, we must do something about the gun violence that is ripping our communities,” Guttenberg said of Swalwell’s proposal. “Let [the NRA] attack away while those of us responsibly try to deal with this.”

Swalwell’s blueprint also includes increased funding for emergency medical and triage training for law enforcement officers; new adult literacy and educational programs in low-income communities; stricter gun-storage standards for individual owners and mandatory reporting of stolen firearms; ownership bans for people convicted of certain domestic abuse crimes; requiring gun owners to purchase liability insurance and pass federal training program that includes written and practical exams; and a ban on hoarding ammunition in quantities exceeding 200 rounds per caliber or gauge.

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