It’s not clear how much of this is Martin O’Malley’s doing, but Maryland has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which seeks to pass more stringent gun laws. Maryland is one of six states to get an A-minus from the organization (no state gets a straight A). Clinton’s New York also gets an A-minus, while Sanders’s Vermont gets an F.
Clare Malone
Obviously given the timing of this debate on MLK weekend, there was a lot of talk about Dr. King in the intro — Hillary Clinton brought up going to hear him speak, and it’s hard not to recall Bill Clinton’s appellation as “the first black president” right now.
But Bernie Sanders’s politics probably line up closest of any of the candidates on the stage to King’s. He was, of course, best known for his work on trying to bring about equality between the races, but King was also a labor activist — he was killed in Memphis while speaking to striking sanitation workers, after all, and during his lifetime called for Americans to “move toward a democratic socialism.”
Sound familiar?
Harry Enten
Bernie Sanders is being asked about his gun record right off the bat in this debate. There’s a reason why Hillary Clinton is attacking him on it. According to an October Des Moines Register poll, 60 percent of Iowa caucus voters said they would be “less supportive” of Sanders based on his gun record. The poll found that no other candidate position found a majority of voters who said they would be “less supportive” of a candidate.
