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Kamala Harris suggests her 2020 gun policies would have thwarted Philly shooter as incident unfolds

August 15, 2019 | | Print Article
(Image: screenshot)

Sen. Kamala Harris politicized the shooting involving multiple police officers in Philadelphia, seeming to suggest her proposed policies would have prevented the incident.

The California Democrat and 2020 presidential candidate predictably turned the shooting – which reportedly involved a standoff between alleged drug dealers and police – into a platform to push her gun control policies while speaking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” Wednesday.

(Video: CNN)

 

Harris made her remarks even as the situation in Philadelphia was unfolding, appearing to propose that her policies would have kept an alleged drug dealer from acquiring firearms.

“You’re former Attorney General of California,” Blitzer said. “What is your reaction to these initial reports, and I stress the word ‘initial’ reports?”

“When will it stop, right?” Harris replied before launching into her campaign talking points.

“Part of my focus on what we need to do around smart gun safety laws is recognize that we have to have more enforcement around gun dealers,” she said.

“Wolf, 90 percent of the guns that are associated with crime are sold by just 5 percent of the gun dealers in the United States. And so among the many plans that I have both in the form of executive action and also in the form of legislation, one of them is to put more resources into the ATF to take the licenses of gun dealers who violate the law. And that includes a number of things, including when they are responsible for doing background checks, not doing them.”

The former California attorney general’s comments coincided with breaking reports of the standoff in Philadelphia in which six officers were shot. Officers were reportedly serving a warrant at the home of the suspect who has a history of gun-related convictions when the gun battle broke out, injuring six officers.

Blitzer questioned whether what Harris was proposing went “far enough.”

“Well, there are a variety of things. First of all, let’s be clear, I have hugged too many mothers of homicide victims over the years. I have looked at more autopsy photographs than I care to tell you, of people whose lives have been ended because of gun violence,” she said.

“We need Congress to act. We do not lack for good ideas. We do not lack for tragedies. The failure of Congress, however, the United States Congress to act on passing smart gun safety laws is the issue,” the 2020 contender continued.

“So when elected, I’ll give the United States Congress 100 days to pull their act together on this and put a bill on my desk for signature,” she added.  “And if they do not, I am prepared to take executive action to, one, put in place a comprehensive background check requirement, two, put the resources into the ATF to take the licenses from gun dealers who violate the law, and three, to ban the importation of assault weapons in our country.”

The lawmaker was almost immediately denounced for politicizing the Philadelphia shootout, before all the facts were even known.

Later in the CNN show, Democratic Florida Rep. Val Demings appeared to agree with Harris, telling Blitzer that “we can assume” the shooter was using the “high-capacity magazines” that she wants banned.

Twitter users slammed Harris for her ill-timed self-promotion and campaigning.

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Frieda Powers
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