Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on gun control.

So CBS News has a new feature where they post the policy positions of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on various issues.

I think that is very helpful and cuts through a lot of ridiculous rhetoric and circus like atmosphere of this political season.

Today's topic is gun control, which just so happens to be one of my top concerns.

First up Hillary Clinton: “I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets,” Clinton said in June. “We may have our disagreements on gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few things.”

Here are her proposals: 

Clinton advocates for “common sense gun laws” 

She wants to expand background checks 

She is pushing for comprehensive background check legislation, which would include banning all domestic abusers or the severely mentally ill from buying or possessing guns. 

She wants “no fly, no buy” policies, which would prohibit people on terror watch lists from gaining access to guns. 

Clinton pledges to close loopholes in existing firearm laws 

She wants to close the “Charleston loophole” which allows a gun sale to proceed without a completed background check if that check is not complete within three days. According to the FBI, it’s how Dylann Roof -- the shooter in Charleston, South Carolina who killed nine parishioners at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last June -- was able to get his gun. 

She would ask Congress to close the so-called “gun show loophole” and require any person engaging in a high volume of gun sales -- particularly at gun shows and on the internet -- to be held to the same standards as sellers at gun stores.

Clinton would repeal immunity protections for the gun industry 

She would repeal the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which prevents victims of gun violence from holding negligent manufacturers and dealers accountable for violence perpetrated with their guns.

I find many of these stances to be pretty courageous considering that they are guaranteed to fire up the NRA and 2nd Amendment types to work against Hillary's campaign.

Now let's see what Donald Trump has to offer:

Trump pledges to defend the Second Amendment 

His campaign website says he would “enforce the laws on the books” 

Trump wants to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court that would also uphold the Second Amendment 

Trump is open to “no fly, no buy” policies (Well that's something at least.)


In a “Face the Nation” interview in June, Trump said he was open to “no fly, no buy” policies to prevent people on terror watch lists from buying firearms, in a seeming break from his party. Of discussions with the NRA, Trump said “I’m talking to them about the whole concept of terror watch lists. Should we take somebody directly off it -- if there is a terror watch list and if somebody is on, should they be allowed to buy a gun? Now, we understand there are problems with that, because some people are on the terror watch list that shouldn’t be on. You understand that. And that’s happened. Maybe you can reverse it.” 

Trump wants to expand mental health treatment programs 

He wants to create a “national right to carry” 

Trump believes concealed carry permits should be valid in all 50 states. 

His campaign website says that “a driver’s license works in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every state.” (The hell it is!)


Trump would get rid of gun-free zones (Oh shit!)


Under a Trump administration, military bases and recruiting centers that are now “gun-free zones” would allow the use of firearms. 

Trump would do the same for schools. After Oregon’s Umpqua Community College shooting where nine people were killed last October, Trump suggested that the outcome would have been better if teachers had been equipped with firearms. “It was a gun-free zone,” Trump said at a rally shortly after the shooting​. “I will tell you -- if you had a couple of the teachers or somebody with guns in that room, you would have been a hell of a lot better off.” 

He would enforce existing laws. (The President actually explained why this does not happen:"One of the most frustrating things that I hear is when people say -- who are opposed to any further laws -- 'Why don't you just enforce the laws that are on the books?'" Obama said. "And those very same members of Congress then cut (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) budgets to make it impossible to enforce the law.")

So does this mean that Trump is planning to override the GOP led Congress and force them to increase the budgets for these law endorcement agencies so they can do their jobs more effectively? Of course not.

I am not a single issue voter by any measure, but if I were this would likely be one of the issues at the top of my list. And after seeing these two compared side by side, there is no doubt who I would vote for in a heartbeat.