Katrina vanden Heuvel: Assault Weapons Ban Should Not Be a Partisan Issue

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Assault Weapons Ban Should Not Be a Partisan Issue

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Assault Weapons Ban Should Not Be a Partisan Issue

Cracking down on high-powered guns is not a progressive issue but rather a “sanity issue” that Obama should take on now.

Press Room
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

When Barack Obama publicly addresses Joe Biden’s gun control proposals this week, he should support a ban on assault weapons, Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel said on Current TV’s War Room. Many mayors and law enforcement officials are pulling for a gun safety package, including such a ban.

“This is not a progressive issue, this is a sanity issue,” vanden Heuvel told host Jennifer Granholm.

Responsible gun owners could also be drawn on for support, vanden Heuvel said. Although the NRA leadership opposes background checks for gun buyers, many of its members agree with the idea. 

—Alec Luhn

The NRA’s greatest PR coup in recent years was the Fast and Furious scandal, which resulted in US guns fueling drug violence in Mexico, Katrina vanden Heuvel reminds us in her latest blog post.

Support The Nation’s June Fundraising Campaign

With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.

We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we’re raising $20,000 to power The Nation’s independent journalism in the run-up to November’s immensely consequential elections.

It’s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you’ll donate today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Press Room Big Nation announcements and select interview clips. For media inquiries, booking requests or further information, please contact: Caitlin Graf, VP, Communications, The Nation press [at] thenation.com / 212-209-5400


Ad Policy
x

Latest from the nation

Today 11:47 am

Mamdani and the DSA Just Sent a Seismic Message: The Revolution Is Here to Stay

Ross Barkan
Today 11:36 am

The New York City Race Where the Establishment Won

Joan Walsh
Today 8:39 am

The Supreme Court Loves Religious Freedom—Just Not for Rastafarians

Elie Mystal
Today 8:30 am

Street Art as Solidarity

Bob Bingenheimer
Today 5:00 am

The Celebration of the Nation's Birth Is Still a Sham

Madiba K. Dennie

editor's picks

VIDEO: People in Denmark Are a Lot Happier Than People in the United States. Here’s Why.

The Nation

Historical Amnesia About Slavery Is a Tool of White Supremacy

Mychal Denzel Smith