Maggie AstorCompte certifié

On the Second Amendment, Buttigieg says it's already well established that it's constitutional to ban some weapons. "Everyone can have a water balloon, no one can have a Predator drone, and somewhere we're going to draw the line."

The first audience question for @PeteButtigieg, from NYC activists Luis Hernandez and Erica Ford, was about the lack of attention to the daily shootings in communities of color, compared to the attention to mass shootings. How would Buttigieg specifically address that violence?

Buttigieg talked about changing culture as well as laws (as David Hogg did in his intro). "Society expects" young people of color to end up in the criminal justice system, he said, and that affects their behavior

The second audience question was about suicide, especially among veterans. Buttigieg talked in part about destigmatizing mental illness.

Melvin asks: Do you agree with the school of thought that the NRA isn't as powerful as people think it is?

Buttigieg: "I think it falls to us to decide... Are we going to prove that they aren’t as powerful as people think they are?" The NRA's power isn't just about money, he told the audience, "it’s about their ability to mobilize single-issue voters. That’s why you are so important."

"We are going to decide the answer to your question in 2020."

Buttigieg is done; @JulianCastro is up in a few minutes.

First question for @JulianCastro is about ammunition laws. He wants to increase the excise tax on ammunition and guns to 20% and use the revenue to fund gun violence prevention programs. Also wants "better ways to track ammunition" (e.g. bullet microstamping).

Lots of talk about guns, "but what we do with ammunition, physically and also the way that we tax it, is also part of this equation," Castro says.

How do you sell your ideas to people in places like TX where gun ownership is ingrained in the culture, Melvin asks? Two things, Castro says: First, many people who own guns for hunting/sporting/defense support new laws. That's "more popular than it's given credit for," he says.

Second, he argues that the "good guy with a gun" argument has been debunked and that more people are rejecting it. The El Paso shooter had to know that in a Walmart in Texas, some people would be armed, but "that didn't make a difference," he says.

Castro is asked why he supports a voluntary assault weapons buyback instead of mandatory. He says he looked to the ban on fully automatic weapons, and that ban was effective without a mandatory buyback. People who keep their assault weapons would have to register them, he adds.

In response to a mother from Chicago whose son was fatally shot, Castro talks, among other things, about "investing in youth opportunities," including sports and after-school programs, to keep teens occupied at the times when a lot of violence tends to happen.

Castro now talking about the portion of his gun plan that addresses white supremacism. "We need to root that out. We need to stop it before it turns into violence." Calls, among other things, for social media platforms to combat extremism "instead of just allowing it to fester."

"We need to raise a generation of young people who don't see violence as the first resort," he says, mentioning his 4-year-old son.

He mentions violent video games, says it does worry him that his son "goes on YouTube and there's content that looks violent." But adds that it's possible to be concerned about that and also recognize that other countries have the same games but not the same shootings.

Castro done. @CoryBooker up next.

"The marathon continues," Melvin says. We're... two candidates in.

"No no no, we're not taking a break!" he chides audience members as they start to stand up.

.@CoryBooker is up now. The first question is how he would apply his lessons from Newark (he talks a lot about how dealing with violence there has informed his positions). He says, "It's not lessons. This is not an intellectual issue... This is living with a sense of urgency."

"We cannot wait in this country — this is no time for impotency of empathy. We cannot wait until this hell is upon your community for you to be activated in this fight."

Booker just said too much agreement kills the conversation, so he's going to stir up controversy: If you don't support a federal gun licensing requirement, he says, "you should not be a nominee from our party."

Booker was the first to propose gun licensing earlier this year, and most, but not all, of the Democratic candidates now support it.

Booker arguing hard for a mandatory assault weapons buyback. Says the idea that federal agents will show up at your door and grab your guns is "NRA fearmongering."

"Australia's done it. There are not people running out there seizing weapons. There are ways to do this that get near-complete compliance. Do not let the fearmongerers dictate our policy."

Memorize this number, Booker says: 1-800-273-8255, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. Like Buttigieg, he's talking about destigmatizing mental illness.

Booker now emphasizing "the murders we don't talk about" enough. (Shoutout to Chris Murphy's upcoming book, apparently.) Transgender people, especially trans women of color; victims of domestic violence; POC killed by police.

Booker: "If you elect me your president, I'm warning you now — vote for another person if you don't like this warning — if you elect me president, I'm going to ask more from you than any president has ever asked from you in your lifetime..."