2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Sanders 'saddened' by on-air shooting, but does not call for action on gun violence [View all]azurnoir
(45,850 posts)But after Smith came out in support of an assault-weapons ban after opposing it in his successful 1988 campaign against Sanders, the NRA invested heavily in defeating him an opposition campaign that likened Smith to Pinocchio for his flip-flop and featured bumper stickers: Smith and Wesson Yes, Smith in Congress No.
The NRA didnt campaign for Sanders in 1990, and Jeff Weaver, the campaign manager for his presidential bid and a longtime adviser, noted that Sanders supported an assault weapons ban and never embraced a pro-gun message.
The easy position would have been to be against the assault weapons ban, said Weaver, pushing back on the idea that Sanders catered to the NRA for political purposes. (Weaver made the comments before the Charleston shooting.)
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/bernie-sanders-awkward-history-with-guns-in-america-119185.html#ixzz3k0anx0hi