Maggie AstorCompte certifié

Asked about a cap on gun purchases (e.g., you can only buy one gun per month), she says she'd be open to considering it but would rather focus on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and universal background checks.

Melvin asks if Klobuchar's buyback program would be mandatory or voluntary; she says voluntary.

We now have a short break before @AndrewYang comes on.

"Did I see Alyssa Milano in here?" Craig Melvin says, chatting with the audience before Yang comes on. "You're everywhere."

And we're back with @AndrewYang.

"No, he did not bring $1,000 for every family," Melvin says. "You don't know that, Craig," Yang says.

Melvin asks about Yang's tiered gun licensing system. Yang says he sees it as analogous to driver's licenses — you need one license to drive a passenger car, but if you want to drive a truck, you need a commercial license.

All guns should require a license, he says, but different guns have "different levels of destructive capacity," and if a particular gun "requires a little bit more sophisticated training," then that training should be required in the licensing process.

Talking about providing more resources to schools and other programs to help young people who might become violent, Yang says:

"I believe we need to try and attack the root causes of this as well, because the fact is even if we get commonsense gun laws across the finish line… we’re going to wake up the next morning and we know there is still going to be gun violence in our communities..."

"We’re going to be struggling with this for generations, unfortunately, so we need to attack the root causes in addition to the last links in the chain."

If everyone had an instant self-destruct button, most "probably would have pressed it at one point in our lives," Yang says, & what can happen with gun owners is "they have that one moment" & "make an irreversible & tragic decision that they would have regretted a moment later."

Yang now talking about changing incentives for the gun lobby. Says because many people rush to buy guns after a shooting—bc they want to protect themselves or they're afraid gun control will pass—"if you're a gun manufacturer, you actually profit when there's a mass shooting."

He argues that if gun manufacturers had to pay a fine every time their products were used to kill someone, "the incentives would be reversed very quickly... we have to make it in their financial best interest to make us safer."

An audience member who was bartending at the Route 91 festival when the shooting happened just recalled using her finger to plug a bullet hole in someone's head & holding a man's hand as he died. Says she sat with his body for hours, answered his phone and had to tell his mother.

Yang, who has two young kids, said schools should end active-shooter drills; he believes they're traumatic and not effective. "It gives rise to a real sense of uncertainty for that child. If you can’t be secure in your own classroom...your whole sense of the world gets shaken."

Children shouldn't have to worry about being shot, Yang says. "Let the adults worry about them getting shot, and let the kids go to school."

Next and last up will be @KamalaHarris.

"We're trying to continue with our gun forum but Andrew Yang won't stop with the selfies," Melvin jokes. Then Kamala Harris runs out to greet Yang. "You're supposed to wait for your introduction!!!" Melvin yells.

Asked about Trump's tweet saying impeachment is making gun legislation impossible, @KamalaHarris says: "This president has gotten nothing done about much of anything since he’s been in office. He has been without courage..."

"...The president of the United States has to stand up to the NRA and say, 'Enough is enough—I’m not going to any longer accept your false choice that you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everybody’s guns away.'”

Harris talks about systemic problems that breed violence, esp. in communities of color. "People think, OK, we want to create safe communities, that’s the criminal justice system. Wrong. The goal should be safe & healthy communities bc healthy communities create safe communities."

That means economic resources, public schools, health resources, etc, she says. "If there is not economic opportunity in a community, you will see people go to other ways to survive."

In talking about public schools, and the importance of education in preventing violence, Harris sharply criticizes Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. "She's trying to put guns in the hands of teachers. You know what those teachers want? They want a raise."

Harris says we need to abandon "the idea that the way you get safety in a community is to put more police on the streets. That will not be effective. That is reactive. That is not clear about the goal."

A trauma surgeon asks how Harris would prevent people who are suicidal from getting guns. (He's at the event with 3 other surgeons and says, "Frankly, this is our lane." Clear jab at the NRA, whose leaders have said doctors who call for gun control should "stay in their lane.")

Harris says universal background checks can identify some people who might be a danger to themselves, as can red-flag laws. She criticizes people who suggest that improving mental health services is an alternative to changing gun laws. "We need to do both."

Melvin asks whether Harris is concerned that anything she accomplishes through executive action, instead of legislation, could be overturned by the next president. "Craig," she says, "I will deal with that in eight years."

"Come to me with this problem in eight years, but right now I'm fixing to do something about it," Harris says after talking about how terrified many students and teachers are.

An audience member asks how Harris interprets the 2nd Amendment. "It's back to my point about false choice," she says. "You can respect the 2nd Amendment, you can respect the traditions of hunting…"