Senator Cory Booker On Bolder Gun Reform: 'I'm Going To Bring The Fight'

By De Elizabeth


In the wake of another summer filled with headlines about mass shootings and gun violence, it’s no surprise that students, parents, and teachers across the United States grew fearful as another school year started. 2018 was tracked because the worst year for school shootings on record, however little has changed connected with national legislation that would impact gun violence. Alternatively, a huge burden has been placed on schools and families to create for the worst at any moment: Students are purchasing bulletproof backpacks, teachers are learning how to treat bullet wounds, and districts across the nation have adapted mobile shooter drills, some of which have proven to be traumatic for educators and students alike.


School shootings are only piece of the equation, as gun violence affects people all over the nation daily. The Pew Studies Center announced that nearly 40,000 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S. In 2017; that same year, the gun death rate surpassed the rate of people killed in vehicle crashes. According to EveryTown for Gun Safety, the United States’s gun homicide rate is 25 times that of other high-income countries, and firearms have become the second leading cause of death for American children and teenagers.


Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) describes all of this as “outrageous and unacceptable” — and as a Democratic candidate for President of the United States, he is prepared to jump headfirst into the fight for a safer nation. “There is a fierce urgency,” he told MTV News of the necessity for legislative reform. “We must end this nightmare that is affecting families and children all around country.”


because the 2020 presidential election approaches, gun violence remains one of the most crucial issues on the table. A November 2018 Gallup poll showed that gun policy was rated as “extremely important” among most voters ahead of the midterm elections, and Politico notes that Democratic presidential hopefuls have put gun reform front and center in response to the “uniquely American emergency” of mass shootings.


Booker’s 14-point gun reform plan has been described as one of the boldest among the current Democrats in the 2020 race. With details including a gun licensing program, a assault weapons ban, handgun microstamping, and extra common-sense regulations, Booker is also ready to take on the NRA. “This is something happening daily in America,” he mentioned. “Every day we wait expenditures us dozens of lives … due to the reality that also several of us are accepting, or allowing to continue. If I'm President of the United States, I'm going to bring the fight to the corporate gun lobby like they've never seen before. ... They're a threat to our nation's security due to the policies that they are preventing, the usual sense policies that they are fighting against … almost every day.”


While in a recent phone interview, the senator spoke to MTV News about his gun reform plan, his vision for a safer America, and what he wants students around the nation to know about the possibility of a future without gun violence.


MTV News: You've stressed the importance of going bolder on gun reform, that it's key for politicians to rethink what's possible within this debate. What do you personally think is possible for the United States, considering where we are right now compared to other countries?


Senator Cory Booker: We can end this epidemic of gun violence. I think we are completely capable of doing it and that's why our multi-point plan is … not based on theory. Every point that we put out there really is an evidence-based point of something that could make us safer and more secure. We have the capability of doing it, nevertheless we can't let this debate be framed by the corporate gun lobby. We can't let them determine what regular sense is. We as a country have to determine what that is, and muster the will to prepare build a sort of transformation.


We have allowed the gun lobby to shape this debate for way also long … as a result, we've seen unconscionable levels of gun violence in our nation that no other country sees, unless they are at war. … I'm sick of this; I stay in a community that is plagued by gun violence because of those susceptible gun safety laws. I know the urgency, and know so several of the families that have had their lives ripped apart due to gun violence.


MTV News: What is the opening step to get there? If elected, what would you do throughout your very starting day in office?


Sen. Booker: We need to begin right away in building the larger national coalition required to get these issues through Congress. There really are things I can do through executive group, however, ultimately to end the epidemic of gun violence, we have to have a president who's prepared to lead on this supply. ... This isn't a secondary or third offer for me. The protection of our nation, the protection of our children, the reclaiming of our freedom from fear and violence is going to be a primary purpose of my presidency — and we are going to win this fight, because I'm going to bring the fight. It begins with a prioritization. It begins with a sense of urgency. It begins with taking action on day one.


MTV News: What can you tell us about your proposed gun licensing program? 


Sen. Booker: We have models that are working in the nation now. Connecticut has a gun licensing program. It resulted in a 40 percent drop in shootings in their state, and it's something that is functional. It's not, in any way, inhibiting the ability for law-abiding citizens to get a gun. What it is doing is preventing people who shouldn't have them from getting them. We have the capability to facilitate a licensing program that can work in our country. We know it because states with significant populations do it already.


MTV News: Your platform includes an assault weapons ban. Would that include a buyback program?


Sen. Booker: Absolutely. I think we should have a mandatory buyback program in the nation to get these weapons off our streets and out of our communities. And, again, this is another thing that's not new. Other nations have done this. We did this with machine guns back in the 1980s. We determined to ban a certain kind of weapon and we were able to get them off of our streets. This is something that we're completely capable of. It's not a matter of ‘can we?’ It's: ‘Do we have the political will to get it done?’ I plan to bring that political will to create ensure we get these things done.


MTV News: Your plan also talks about limiting gun purchases and mandating that owners report lost or stolen guns. In your suggestion, how come do you know that there's currently an absence of such common-sense regulations?


Sen. Booker: The power of the corporate gun lobby and the NRA is working against the ideal interests and the safety and security of our country. These companies … are really undermining usual sense, and we know this because gun licensing is supported by over 80 percent of Residents of the United States. Universal background checks are supported by over 90 percent of Residents of the
U.S.. These are common-sense laws supported by gun owners, even the majority of NRA members. I really do believe it's these nefarious forces; it is the corporate gun lobby and the NRA that are working against the … well-being of our country.


MTV News: You also talk about closing the “boyfriend loophole,” which would extend current legislation that prohibits abusive spouses from procuring a firearm to include protection against abusive dating partners. Can you explain how that’s key to ending gun violence?


Sen. Booker: I don't think Residents of the
U.S. Completely appreciate the level of partner-based violence, domestic violence, and murders there really are each week In America. We have taken some steps to mention that someone convicted of felony domestic violence can't purchase a weapon, nevertheless there's a glaring loophole... In the event you're a boyfriend convicted of non-felony stalking of a girlfriend, that doesn't preclude you from purchasing a weapon, and that's outrageous. This loophole is being exploited by folks who are carrying out partner violence, plus it must be closed.


MTV News: What message would you like to send to students and teachers who might be fearful of returning to school this year?


Sen. Booker: You can't have real courage without being susceptible, and what we need is for folks who are fearful right now … to turn that worry into work. All of the fantastic leaps in social change in our country, from the Suffrage Movement to the Civil Rights Movement, that change doesn’t come from Washington. It comes to Washington by mobile citizens who demand the change — and the voices of young folks are powerful. They have an incredible power to shape the culture of our nation and to affect the policies that ultimately prevail.


I'm hoping that increasingly people will recognize how powerful they are, join this fight, and let their voices be heard. In this tragic reality where we live, there's no neutrality, there's no sideline sitters. Either you're helping to solve the problem, or you're piece of the problem. I really hope that more people will get involved and do something in this fight, even small actions:  attending protests, supporting businesses, lifting your voice and demanding a change. That's how it's going to happen.


This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.