Here’s that response in full:

x Ã¢ÂÂEvery mayor tackling this issue is doing so with a hand tied behind our back so long as we fail to enact common-sense gun laws in this country.Ã¢ÂÂ ~ @PeteButtigieg#2020GunSafety Forum @GiffordsCourage @AMarch4OurLives pic.twitter.com/Cwut3jvE1Y Ã¢ÂÂ Moms Demand Action (@MomsDemand) October 2, 2019

Next up, Buttigieg was pressed on his thoughts about a nationwide gun licensing program. Very similarly to Sen. Cory Booker’s platform in the past,, Buttigieg compares gun ownership and related licensing to what you need to drive a car, fish, or hunt. Instead of just background checks, he said, we need stricter licensing requirements upfront.

And loopholes? Gray areas with people convicted of domestic violence being able to own guns? Hate crimes? For Buttigieg, that’s a big no.

Here’s that clip:

x Ã¢ÂÂIf youÃ¢ÂÂve been convicted of a hate crime, in my view, that means you donÃ¢ÂÂt get to own a gun.Ã¢ÂÂ - @PeteButtigieg at the @GiffordsCourage and @AMarch4OurLives #2020GunSafety forum #DisarmHate pic.twitter.com/wQKbmj1xpg Ã¢ÂÂ Everytown (@Everytown) October 2, 2019

The moderator also asked Buttigieg about a national gun buyback program, something he hasn’t been on board with in the past. Instead, he suggested that the guns people bring in are often not usable; instead, they’re family heirlooms or otherwise too old to use. Then, he changed the subject to red flag laws and pressed the urgency of the question, stressing that we can’t wait for debates to play out. “I’m more interested in the governing than the politics,” he stated.

He went on to credit the younger generation—addressing many in the audience—with changing the political reality and bending it to make things happen.

Buttigieg stressed that we have to draw the line somewhere when it comes to the Second Amendment. “Anyone can have a water balloon, nobody can have a predator drone. Somewhere, we’re going to draw it.”

Here’s that clip:

x "We have already decided as a society... within the boundaries of the 2nd Amendment that there's a line. Anyone can have a water balloon, nobody can have a predator drone. Somewhere, we're going draw it."



Ã¢ÂÂ Mayor Buttigieg says at #2020GunSafety Forum pic.twitter.com/shkgLnDcl4 Ã¢ÂÂ MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 2, 2019

Audience question one came from Erica Ford and Luis Hernandez of New York City. “When you look at shootings in white communities, you see an abundance of support,” Ford began. “When you look at the trauma, the generational trauma, of gun violence in black and brown communities, it goes silent.”

Hernandez brought up the militarization of schools and called for a ban on guns in schools. “I want to know what you’re going to do to specifically ensure the safety of people like me,” he said, “like Erica, from marginalized communities, who endure gun violence at disproportionate rates, and no one is seeing or doing anything about it.”

Buttigieg agreed that marginalized communities are disproportionately impacted. (They are.) His solution was more measures for fewer guns on streets. He stressed that guns can’t get into the wrong hands. Then he transitioned to culture and young people. He discussed the school-to-prison pipeline. He also brought up the necessity of supporting people in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods who are being pushed out.

Buttigieg discussed the relationship between police violence and race, acknowledging the issues in his own city. “if we really want to save the lives of people who are so vulnerable to being the victims of violence, we need to establish a level of trust. It’s a cultural as well as a policy question.”

Matthew, who is with the Giffords organization, asked the next question. “You and I both know about the high suicide rates of veterans. Firearm suicide affects both veterans and nonveterans alike,” he opened, citing statistics on suicide with guns.

Buttigieg responded by stressing that the epidemic of gun suicide is part of the gun violence crisis that we have to take out of the shadows. “We need to break the stigma,” he said. “Talk about it until it’s as natural to discuss the experience with depression as it is to talk about a physical illness.”

Buttigieg talked about receiving a letter from a 14-year-old girl who said she’s already written a will in case she’s the victim of gun violence. He also mentioned the epidemic of LGBTQ youth suicide, the importance of extreme risk protection orders, and that people who are experiencing suicidal ideation are not lost causes.

Buttigieg recently released a plan to combat gun violence—which he describes, accurately, as domestic terrorism—in a Medium post. “An Action Plan to Combat the National Threat Posed by Hate and the Gun Lobby,” which the 2020 candidate released shortly after mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, includes having Congress pass gun safety legislation, investing more resources in solving the root problem, including ending the spread of violent extremism (hello, Gab and 8chan), including online.

In recent campaigns, Buttigieg has made it clear that he wants universal background checks, red flag laws on confiscating firearms, and a ban on military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition, which is all basically the unofficial standard for candidates still in the race. Today, he remained consistent and solid.

Compared to other candidates in the race, Buttigieg is relatively moderate on gun reform, though of course still miles ahead of conservatives. But he definitely shone at the forum today, and, in particular, his willingness to talk about police violence and race and about suicide is an important step in expanding his ideas.

If you or are a loved one are struggling with mental health or need support, here are five free resources.