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Hillary Clinton has pounced, repeatedly going after Sanders for some past votes that lined up with the gun lobby. | AP Photo Clinton whales on Sanders on eve of New York primary

Hillary Clinton hammered Bernie Sanders on the eve of the New York primary about his uneven record on gun control, as she tried to put a final seal on her lead in the delegate-rich state.

The former secretary of state took the stage with a trio of powerful women — former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards — who called out not only Sanders but also Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for their stances on abortion and minority groups.

But it was Sanders who was the target of some of Clinton's sharpest comments.

Clinton accused the Vermont senator of not standing up for the victims of the Newtown, Conn. shooting, who are suing gun manufacturer Remington. "I couldn't believe it when Senator Sanders said the parents of the Sandy Hook children did not deserve their day in court, largely because he voted for the bill that gave special protections, immunity from liability to the gunmakers and sellers," she said.

She went on to tie herself to President Barack Obama, and draw a contrast between him and Sanders on the guns issue.

"I was in the Senate at the same time, so was Barack Obama. I voted against it. Barack Obama voted against it. Bernie Sanders voted for it. This has to be a voting issue," she said.

Sanders received significant blowback after he told the New York Daily News' editorial board that gun manufacturers' and dealers' liability should be limited. "Do I think the victims of a crime with a gun should be able to sue the manufacturer, is that your question? ... No, I don't," he said.

He has since clarified the statement, repeatedly affirming the legal rights of the families of the Newtown victims, including on CNN on Sunday: “Of course they have a right to sue, anyone has a right to sue."

But Clinton has pounced, repeatedly going after Sanders for some past votes that lined up with the gun lobby, and accusing his home state of Vermont of being the source of the majority of guns connected to New York crimes. The sustained attacks have come as Clinton seeks to preserve her double-digit lead in the state that she represented for eight years as a U.S. senator.

A big win in New York will go a long way toward shutting the door on Sanders' presidential campaign, which has shown surprising strength and frustrated her attempts to pivot to the general election.

That balancing act was on display on Monday, as Clinton also knocked her Republican rivals.

She praised New York City Police Department Commissioner William Bratton, who recently said Cruz “doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about” after the Texas senator said police should do more to monitor Muslim neighborhoods in the United States. And she alluded to and criticized Trump for "inciting violence."

Richards, in helping introduce the Democratic frontrunner, also went after Trump, who recently retracted a statement that women should face punishment for abortions if the procedure becomes outlawed.

“Women are already being punished in America,” Richards said.

She also mocked Cruz for what she called his desire to protect women. “Don’t you just feel safer already?” she said.

“A woman voting for Ted Cruz is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders,” Richards said. She said something similar during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, crediting her mother, the late Ann Richards, former governor of Texas. "My mother would have said that a woman voting for John McCain would be like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders,” Cecile Richards said then.