Former GOP senator endorses Clinton after Orlando shooting

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   IslandBitesposted 7 years ago

   Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) called for universal background checks on all gun sales and an assault weapons ban Monday in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
   
   “I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am,” said Pressler, who spoke with The Hill on Monday after endorsing Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in a statement issued over the weekend.
   “This morning, I woke up and told my wife, ‘Did I really do that?’ ” he said. "But I did.
   
   “If someone had told me 10 years ago I would do this, I wouldn’t have believed them."
   
   “We need to go the route of more gun control as a result of Orlando and all the other shootings that have occurred,” Pressler said. “But it’s almost as though Republicans are saying gun control shouldn’t be part of the conversation at all."
   
   But gun control isn’t the only reason why Pressler is ready to join “Republicans for Clinton” — he’s also concerned about Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims.
   
   “This election is starting to sound like the German elections in [the late 1920s],” Pressler said. “This is a very dangerous national conversation we’re slipping into.”
   
   “The worst thing is for Republicans to be silent,” Pressler added. “A lot of Republicans are just saying, ‘I’ll sit it out, I won’t vote.’ Or, ‘I’ll vote for a third-party candidate.’ But if they don’t vote, they are giving more power to dark forces.”

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      Hxprofposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Background checks are already required for most sales, but in no way should the federal government be getting involved in requiring checks for ALL sales.  People can pressure their representatives in state capitols to ensure background checks in situations where they're not currently required.

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      PrettyPantherposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I am grateful for conservatives like him.  I'm hoping a small ripple will turn into a giant tidal wave that will wash Donald Trump out of politics forever.

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      Hxprofposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      What Pressler doesn't believe is that both candidates are purveyors of evil  -that's why so many Republicans, Democrats and Independents are considering 3rd party candidates, or even considering sitting out.

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      Credence2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      GOP agreeing to universal background checks on all gun sales? You just as well wish for the Earth to stop spinning on its axis...

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      promisemposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      The NRA will find a way to punish him for his endorsement.

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   Live to Learnposted 7 years ago

   I don't have a problem with background checks but don't most of these mass shooters get their guns legally? After going through a background check? With the exception of gun shows but do we have any evidence of mass shooters buying their weapons at gun shows? 
   
   I would advocate a ban on assault weapons but this problem of mass shootings didn't exist years ago and we had the same percentage of the population buying the same type of guns. Isn't it time we were willing to look beyond the purchasing of guns and attempt to correct the root cause? What do most of these mass shooters have in common? I'll supply the answer. Most of them have been verified to have been on certain medications.

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      Hxprofposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      What you're saying is what many 2nd amendment supporters have been asserting all along - and it may be that most of these folks DO obtain firearms legally.  At any rate, the root cause is definitely not the gun.

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