Third Democratic Debate Addresses Range of Issues…Gun Control Brings Out Strong Emotions

The Democratic Presidential candidates fit onto one stage Thursday night at the Historically Black College and University, Texas Southern University, in Houston for the third debate. It was the first time the top three candidates, former Vice-President Joe Biden and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, stood side-by-side to answer questions along with the seven other candidates who are still in the primary race and met the debate qualifying criteria.

ABC News hosted the three-hour debate which covered healthcare, gun control, racism, jobs, foreign policy, climate change, and education. The issue of gun control brought the latest mass shootings to the forefront and generated, perhaps, the most impassioned reactions from the candidates.

Former Texas Congressman Beta O’Rourke, who grew up in El Paso where a man opened fire in August at a Walmart killing  22 people and injuring 24 others, pledged to ban assault weapons.

“Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” he said. “I want to say this I’m listening to the people of this country. The day after I proposed doing that I went to a gun show in Conway, Arkansas to meet with those who are selling AR-15s and AK-47s and those who are buying those weapons, and you might be surprised there was some common ground there. Folks who said, ‘I will willingly give that up, cut it to pieces, I don’t need this weapon to hunt, to defend myself. It is a weapon of war’. Let’s do the right thing, but let’s bring everyone in America into the conversation.”

Senator Cory Booker said more than 80 percent of Americans want gun licensing legislation and universal background checks.

“I’m sorry that it had to take issues coming to my neighborhood or personally affecting Beto to suddenly make us demand change,” the New Jersey Senator stated. “This is a crisis of empathy in our nation, we are never going to solve this crisis if we have to wait for it to personally affect us or our neighborhood or our community before we demand action. You want to know how we get this done? We get this done by having a more courageous empathy where people don’t wait for this hell to visit upon their community…these mass shootings are tragedies, but the majority of the homicide victims come from neighborhoods like mine.”

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren weighed in, adding, “We have a gun violence problem in this country, and we agree on many steps we can take.”

Senator Bernie Sanders cited the formidable influence of the National Rifle Association which fights most gun control legislation.

“It is a corrupt political system and that means whether it is the drug companies, or the insurance companies, or the fossil fuel industry determining what is happening in Washington,” Sanders said. “Or, in this case, you’ve got the NRA which has intimidated the President of the United States and the Republican leadership. I am proud that year after year, I have a “F” rating from the NRA, and as President, I will not be intimidated.”

Like Senator Sanders, California’s Senator Kamala Harris indicted President Trump in the role of gun violence in America.

She added, “He didn’t pull the trigger, but he’s been tweeting out the ammunition.”

The debate ended with many pundits describing Biden’s performance as his best yet and giving Booker the nod for having a strong showing. Yet, the conventional wisdom indicated the primary battle is still taking shape.