Cory Booker's 14-point gun control plan is one of the most aggressive from 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images 2020 elections Booker calls for requiring licenses for all gun owners

Sen. Cory Booker is rolling out a sweeping gun control agenda that includes requiring licenses for all gun owners, as well as more standard proposals such as conducting universal background checks and banning assault weapons.

The 14-part plan unveiled Monday is part of what Booker said was a “personal fight” to combat a gun violence "epidemic," and it amounts to one of the most aggressive gun control proposals from a 2020 Democrat. It's also sure to face fierce pushback from gun rights’ groups like the National Rifle Association.


The core tenet of the New Jersey senator’s proposal is a federal gun licensing program that would require among other things a comprehensive FBI background check and proof of completion of a gun safety course. After a license is approved, holders “could freely purchase and own firearms” for the five-year duration of their license “with regular, automatic checks to flag non-compliance with license terms” and the possibility of renewal after five years.

The plan would also ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as well as bump stocks, and includes instituting a universal background check system to be enforced on sales at gun shows and in private and online sales, policies gun control advocates have been united in pushing for.

Booker cited broad support in polls even among members of the NRA for universal background checks, and a provision requiring them was included in a gun control bill passed by House Democrats in February.

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Booker's campaign said he will begin on Day One of his presidency to "take executive action to build on ongoing efforts and take concrete steps forward ," but it is unclear how far his legislative priorities will be able to go under a potentially GOP-controlled Senate. The senator demurred in an interview on CNN when asked how he would push his proposals through a divided Congress, comparing the urgency and importance of addressing gun violence to the civil rights movement.

Booker is also pledging to place restrictions on bulk gun purchases, limiting buys to one handgun per month, to open the door for gun dealers and manufacturers to face lawsuits for negligence, and to close the so-called boyfriend loophole that exempts dating partners from laws aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of those convicted of abuse of a spouse.

In an interview on “CBS This Morning” to introduce his plan, Booker pummeled the gun lobby, accusing gun manufacturers of “working ... in an ungodly way to undermine the safety and security of this nation.”

The plan would lift a ban on federal funding for gun violence research and it would bring more oversight to the industry by allowing regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and by increasing funding to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, whose enforcement abilities he said were hamstrung by Congress.

“This is not thoughts and prayers,” Booker said, citing a refrain that has become symbolic among gun control advocates for inaction. “Faith without works is dead. I’m going to bring a fight to this issue in a comprehensive manner like the NRA has never seen before.”

Booker also vowed to go after the NRA specifically, citing recent media reports that the massively powerful group had mismanaged its finances in calling for the IRS to reexamine its tax-exempt status. The group is already under such an investigation by New York state, where the NRA is chartered, that has drawn condemnation from President Donald Trump.

The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Booker’s proposal.

On Monday, Booker responded to anticipated pushback by gun rights advocates who have asserted the kind of policies Booker is proposing would infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens while doing little to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

“That kind of resignation frustrates me to be honest because we know this is not a plan that any law-abiding gun owner should be concerned about it,” he argued. “The people who should be concerned are two groups, one, the people who want to break the law, gun runners and criminals and the gun manufacturers who have been working with — in an ungodly way to undermine the safety and security of this nation.”

Booker’s willingness to take on gun control is part of a broader push by Democrats to confront the gun lobby, which amid internal turmoil and a spate of mass shootings has seen its influence diminished. Gun control advocates outspent the NRA for the first time in last year’s midterms, but Booker said his advocacy stems from the violence plaguing his hometown of Newark, N.J.

“I can't stay away from this issue because this is not some policy issue out there. This is an everyday experience to people like me and folks in my community. I had a young man die from an assault rifle attack last year. Just a couple of days ago, three people shot in my neighborhood. And I'm not unique. This is happening all over the country, ripping apart communities,” he told CBS.