During an appearance on the March 21, 2014 episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Rep. Keith Ellison engaged in a conversation with the show’s host about gun control when Maher challenged Ellison on the Second Amendment. Maher asked Ellison why his party doesn’t come out against the Second Amendment and Ellison replied that he sure wishes they would. Ellison said he supports having a grandpa-style shotgun but opposes military-style assault weapons.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) has been a self-confessed opponent of gun rights. Ellison has made clear that he believes the Democratic Party should not only pursue a litany of severe gun control measures, but that the party should also directly attack the Second Amendment. However, on Thursday, Ellison denied what he said. Ellison said his comments are being taken out of context.
“I did not say that,” he said. “That was not an accurate statement.”
Ellison refutes the statements and says he hunts with a conservative Democrat in rural Minnesota and that he supports stricter background checks for guns. But Ellison has a long history of working against the rights of gun owners, especially from 2003-2007.
In 2006, Ellison was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Since joining the U.S. Congress, Ellison has cosponsored a wide array of anti-gun legislation, calling for strict gun restrictions.
Ellison supports bills that would ban commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms, ban magazines with a capacity greater than 10 rounds, ban popular types of ammunition, require gun owners to purchase liability insurance, and expand the categories of individuals prohibited from possessing firearms. Ellison is also a cosponsor of H.R. 3830, the “Reducing Gun Violence in our Neighborhoods Act of 2015.”
In June, Ellison participated in the widely-publicized gun control “sit-in” on the House floor.
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