Commenting on gun control during her presidential nomination acceptance speech Thursday, Hillary Clinton said her aim was to keep guns out of the hands of people who “shouldn’t have” them.
“I’m not here to repeal the Second Amendment. I’m not here to take away your guns. I just didn’t want you to be shot by someone who shouldn’t have a gun in the first place,” Clinton said to roaring applause from the audience at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Along with running mate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Clinton has promised to make gun control reform central to her administration.
“We will work tirelessly with responsible gun owners to pass common sense reforms and keep guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and all others who would do us harm,” she said.
“For decades people have said this issue was too hard to solve and the politics too hot to touch,” Clinton continued. “But I ask you, how can we just stand by and do nothing? You heard, you saw family members of people killed by gun violence on this stage. You heard, you saw family members of police officers killed in the line of duty because they were outgunned by criminals. I refuse to believe we can’t find common ground here.”
Clinton accused Republican opponent Donald Trump, who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, of being “in the pocket of the gun lobby.”
Trump previously supported gun control measures, including a ban on assault weapons, but he has come out firmly against them as a GOP presidential candidate. On the campaign trail, he routinely charges that President Barack Obama and Clinton want to confiscate Americans’ guns.
