Maggie AstorCompte certifié

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..."

"I'm going to ask you to serve more, to volunteer more, to engage more, to love more, because patriotism is love of country and you cannot love your country if you don't love your fellow" country(wo)men. Uses the "change doesn't come from Washington, it comes to Washington" line.

A mother in the audience just described in detail how, after her teenage son got his braces off and went out to lunch with her and told her he wanted to have 7 children, he went to a friend's house and was accidentally shot in the head with his friend's father's unsecured gun.

She asked, through tears, about Booker's stance on safe-storage requirements. Booker seems to be on the edge of tears too. Painful.

.@ewarren is up now.

Melvin's first question for @ewarren was whether, as Trump tweeted, the Democrats' impeachment inquiry will stymie gun reform. Her response: "I think Mitch McConnell and the Republicans and Donald Trump are impeding our ability to do what needs to be done on gun safety..."

"...It’s like the alternative reality. And what is so disturbing about it is, a tweet like that makes it clear that Donald Trump understands what the American people want to see done..."