Gun Policy Intrudes On 2016 Campaign Trail

American gun policy front and center in the 2016 campaigns after the shootings in Oregon. We’ll look at who stands where on guns.

The young mass killer in Roseburg, Oregon had half a dozen guns. Americans have hundreds of millions of guns. And now, guns are again in the middle of American politics.  his time in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign. Jeb Bush says “stuff happens.” Donald Trump says arm the teachers. Hillary Clinton says tighten up on many fronts. Bernie Sanders says “sensible gun control.” Can anything happen? Will it? This hour, On Point, we look at American gun policy and the 2016 campaign.  Plus, we’ll talk with hard–right Republican Rep. Daniel Webster on the battle for Speaker of the House.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Ed O'Keefe, reporter covering the 2016 presidential campaign for the Washington Post. (@edatpost)

Sam Frizell, reporter for TIME magazine covering the 2016 presidential campaign. (@Sam_Frizell)

Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research and professor of health policy management at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Washington Post: Jeb Bush criticized for saying ‘stuff happens’ while discussing school shootings — "President Obama and Democrats quickly condemned comments made Friday by Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who said that there isn't always a useful government solution to mass shootings and other crises because 'stuff happens.'"

TIME: Democrats Push for Gun Control Ahead of 2016 -- "For critics of gun control, Democrats’ call for greater restrictions in the wake of the Newtown and Oregon shootings politicize the tragedies. They argue guns help protect Americans faced with violence, an argument that polls show many Americans agree with. Democratic candidates are unfazed by this opposition."

New York Times: The Gun Lobby’s Power Is Overstated — "The invincibility of the gun lobby is being overstated. For one thing, gun ownership is becoming more concentrated in a smaller share of the population, one that is increasingly clustered in certain regions, thus limiting the lobby’s political reach. For another thing, the big recent defeat for the gun-control movement, the 2013 failure to pass universal background checks for gun purchases, was a close call."

Rep. Daniel Webster, (R-FL), US Representative for Florida’s 10^th Congressional District. Currently in the running for Speaker of the House. (@RepWebster)

CNN Politics: Chaffetz, Webster promise to delegate power in House — "There has long been internal strife in the House Republican Conference under Speaker John Boehner. Boehner's announcement that he would resign his seat at the end of the month set off an internal leadership shakeup, but House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California is still viewed as the front-runner for the top job. Webster said Monday he would attempt to give more power to rank-and-file House members if they pick him to be their new leader."