A New York congressional candidate endorsed by Moms Demand Action has come out in favor of a position that’s even more extreme than what the Bloomberg-funded anti-gun group has been willing to call for publicly.
Diana Kastenbaum, who’s one of two Democrats competing for the chance to take on Rep. Claudia Tenney in the midterms this year, declared her desire to ban all semi-automatic firearms during a debate in Batavia, New York on Tuesday evening.
Gun control arose twice as a topic.
It developed first when Kastenbaum touted her endorsement by Moms Demand Action, a gun control advocacy group.
“I am very much against assault weapons,” Kastenbaum said. “I think they should be banned. I also think we need a lot of other things – we need more mental health dollars going to people.”
“It’s not just the ban,” she continued. “But with every single mass shooting, it’s with automatic weapons, it’s with assault rifles. And I think we need to get them off our streets. I am all for a ban.”
Kastenbaum’s primary opponent Alissa Ellman, who has previously described herself as “pretty pro-gun” and suggested Democrats were wrong to “over-regulate” firearms, pointed out that there’s a difference between automatic and semi-automatic firearms, and said she would prefer to see things like “red flag” laws and expanding background checks.
Kastenbaum then doubled down on her gun ban demands.
“I actually think assault weapons also mean semi-automatic and those are the ones that have been used to kill in these mass shootings,” she said. “So I want to say, I’m for the Second Amendment but I am definitely against assault weapons. That means semi-automatics also.”
Ellman pointed out that Kastenbaum’s expansive definition would include everything from semi-automatic shotguns commonly used for hunting to .22 caliber rifles. She even called out some gun laws she believes are ineffective, like banning magazines that can hold more than a certain number of rounds.
I can see why Moms Demand Action has endorsed Kastenbaum. But Ellman has positioned herself as too supportive of gun ownership for the gun control lobby, and not supportive enough of the Second Amendment for 2A groups.
Ellman went on to expound on a number of gun control proposals she would find acceptable, including licensing and insurance requirements, as well as raising the age to possess a firearm to 21; positions that aren’t likely to win over Second Amendment advocates.
Later in the debate Kastenbaum brought up Ellman’s licensing scheme, which included a proposed training mandate for all gun owners.
“I don’t own a gun,” she said. “I don’t want to have one. That’s my right, isn’t it? I would think it should be. So, I just don’t know how you do that… how are you going to get the entire United States population to go through gun training?”
Methinks that Kastenbaum isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. I don’t agree with Ellman’s proposed policy, but it pretty clearly wouldn’t require every American to go through firearm training… only the tens of millions of us who want to exercise our Second Amendment rights. Since Kastenbaum has made it clear she doesn’t want to own a gun, she could remain blissfully ignorant of how firearms operate if she wanted.
Ellman’s opposition to gun bans makes her a moderate Democrat on the issue of gun control, but thankfully the voters in NY-24 have a much better option in November no matter who wins the Democrat primary.
Rep. Claudia Tenney has been a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment during her time in Congress, sponsoring bills like the Second Amendment Guarantee Act, which would prohibit states from banning the manufacture, sale, importation, or possession of any rifle or shotgun that is lawfully permitted under federal law; the Protecting Gun Owners in Bankruptcy Act, which would exempt $3,000 worth of firearms from bankruptcy proceedings, and the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, which was approved by the House last month and would prohibit Department of Veterans Affairs from reporting veterans to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System solely because they’ve had a fiduciary appointed to help manage their VA benefits.
Tenney has handily won re-election with about 2/3rds of the vote in her recent campaigns, so even in a blue wave her seat should be relatively secure. Still, 2A supporters in NY-24 should get engaged and involved in the race; not only to show support for a candidate who actually supports the Second Amendment, but to keep a candidate who’d ban the most popular and common firearms in the country if given the chance.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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