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Sanders Tells N.H. Voters He Supports Assault Weapons Ban

Josh Rogers | NHPR

After a labor day weekend that saw another mass shooting, this time in Odessa Texas, gun policy is on the minds of many Democratic primary voters.

When Bernie Sanders spoke in Epsom Tuesday, his focus was healthcare, but when asked about guns by a member of the crowd, Sanders pledged to fight for universal background checks and to limit the availability of so-called assault weapons.

"More and more Americans - and I - certainly believe we should ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons," he said.

But to Jim Fucella, a retired postal worker from Concord who supports Sanders, that's not enough.

"I think that's the beginning of it, but I think there's a hundred people a day killed by guns, so it’s horrible what happened in Texas, so, 'let's get rid of the assault weapons' - I agree with it but we've got a long way to go," Fucella said. 

Tighter gun laws are backed by every Democrat running for president. But gun policy has been a sensitive topic for Sanders, who has, as a member of congress, opposed some bills limiting gun rights, including a 1993 bill to create national background checks.

Josh has worked at NHPR since 2000.
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