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 Clinton was at a town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, to unveil
her plan to curb gun violence just days after a gunman killed nine
people and wounded another nine last week on the campus of Umpqua
Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.
At times on Monday, Clinton's voice cracked as she talked about the
toll gun violence has taken on U.S. schools, movie theaters and
other public spaces. She asked Nicole Hockley, an audience member
whose 6-year-old son Dylan was killed along with 19 other children
and 6 adults in a 2012 shooting at a Connecticut school, to speak
briefly.
"How many people have to die before we actually act, before we come
together as a nation?" Clinton asked the audience at the New
Hampshire community college, which she said was similar to the
Oregon campus.
At the top of Clinton's list are expanding background checks,
repealing legislation that protects manufacturers and dealers from
liability, and strengthening punishment for straw purchasers who buy
firearms for others.
Clinton has not minced words in recent days, saying she wants to
build a "national movement" to counter the influence of the National
Rifle Association, the nation's top gun-rights advocacy group.
 The NRA is among the biggest spenders on U.S. politics. The
organization dumped $28 million into the 2014 election cycle to pay
for communications promoting the right to bear arms, the candidates
who support it and against candidate who favor restrictions,
according to OpenSecrets.org.
Clinton questioned in Manchester whether there was a better way to
preserve the constitutional right to bear arms while also getting
"military-style assault weapons" off streets.
"What I would love to see, is gun owners, responsible gun owners ...
form a different organization and take the Second Amendment (of the
U.S. Constitution) back from extremists," Clinton said of the NRA to
applause.
The NRA did not respond to a request to comment on Clinton's remarks
and proposals.
Clinton's campaign on Monday released detailed proposals about what
she would do to curb gun violence if elected to the White House in
November 2016.
Clinton would use presidential executive authority to close a
"loophole" to ensure people purchasing firearms at gun shows and
online face the same background checks and sales taxes as buyers
from traditional retailers.
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Clinton would push Congress to prohibit domestic abusers, including
stalkers, from purchasing guns and close what she called the
"Charleston loophole," referring to a June shooting at a
predominantly black church in South Carolina that left nine dead.
If a background check is not completed within three days, a sale can
proceed. The alleged Charleston shooter could buy his gun because of
this loophole, as did 2,500 people in 2014, Clinton's campaign said.
Clinton also said she would pursue the repeal of a 2005 law that she
voted against as a U.S. senator representing New York. The
legislation prevents victims of gun violence from holding negligent
manufacturers and dealers accountable for crime committed with their
guns.
"Nobody else is getting that immunity - and that just illustrates
the extremism that has taken over this debate," Clinton said.
Demand for firearms surged in the past when consumers feared gun
control legislation was coming. On Monday afternoon, Smith & Wesson
<SWHC.O> shares were up 5.1 percent at $17.44, and Sturm Ruger & Co
<RGR.N> had risen 2.7 percent to $57.99.
Clinton said her proposals were not new: "There’s nothing unique
about them, other than I am so determined to do everything we
possibly can."
(Reporting by Amanda Becker; Additional reporting by Emily
Stephenson; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Lisa Von Ahn and
Jonathan Oatis)
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