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The gun control debate

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Advance asked all eight congressional candidates, "How do you keep guns out of the hands of people with mental health issues or others who should not have them? "

Here are their responses.

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Courtesy Michael DeVito for Congress

Michael DeVito

DeVito told the Advance that he supports H.R. 3464 Background Completion Act of 2017, which prevents sale of firearms until background checks are complete. He also supports H.R. 1478 The Gun Violence Research Act, H.R. 5087 The Assault Weapons Ban, and H.R. 4052 Keep America Safe Act, which bans high capacity magazines.

"Enough of 'thoughts and prayers'; it is time for action," said DeVito. "We can be safe while maintaining our rights, and we can combat violence with opportunity."

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Staten Island Advance

Rep. Dan Donovan

"I support the Second Amendment and we can keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, felons and the mentally ill without infringing upon the rights of law-abiding citizens," said Donovan.

Donovan told the Advance that he supports the Public Safety and 2nd Amendment Rights Protection Act, which he co-sponsored,

"[It] strengthens the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) by incentivizing states to improve reporting of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill and by directing future grant funds toward better record-sharing systems," he said. "It closes background check loopholes but is pro 2A by providing reasonable exceptions for firearms transfers between family members and friends."

Donovan said that he also supports the House's "no-fly, no-buy bill."

"If you are too dangerous to get on a plane, you are too dangerous to own a firearm," Donovan said. "These are common sense fixes but more than new laws we need to pay attention to warning signs and increase communication."

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Courtesy Zach Emig for Congress

Zach Emig

Zach Emig, a Tompkinsville bond trader, said that all guns sold in the United States should be able to ID owners and lock if someone else attempts to use it.

"Every gun in America should be sold with an electronic locking mechanism that prevents it from being used by anyone other than its lawful owner," said Emig. "It's 2018, that kind of technology has existed for 20 years, but NRA lobbying has prevented it from being required under law. Electronic locks like this would eliminate the use of family members or stolen guns for committing crime."

Emig also told the Advance that he believes New York's gun laws are a good proxy for how firearms should be regulated on the national level.

"New York strikes a very decent balance, with hunters and sportsmen able to obtain the rifles they want, homeowners able to protect their domiciles, but assault weapons and semiautomatic pistols much harder to obtain," said Emig. "Making such laws nationally would prevent criminals to use the state with the weakest laws as a source for their arsenals."

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Staten Island Advance

Michael Grimm

"Enforce the laws we already have on the books, and evaluate loopholes and oversights that have consistently undermined those existing protections," Grimm said.

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Courtesy Mohan for Congress

Radhakrishna Mohan

Radhakrishna Mohan, a union leader and community activist, said that he supported tightening background check laws and creating an e-verify system for individuals with mental illnesses.

"A thorough background check of those seeking to obtain gun permit, will keep the guns out of the hands of people with mental health issues and those who have tendency for violent behavior," Mohan said. "National Instant Criminal Background Check System, a confidential database, must be checked before the sale of guns. There must be a similar system with those have mental illness so that it can be verified also during the sale of guns."

Mohan added, "The seller of the guns should be authorized to require the purchasers of the gun to show ID and necessary permit to buy the guns."

Mohan also backed banning assault weapons and mandating a gap between attempts to purchase a firearm to give time for background checks.

"A law needs to be passed to restrict the gun purchase be limited to hand guns and sports rifles only rather than make assault weapons available for purchase," Mohan said. "A minimum number of days should be passed before the sale of guns during which time, the background checks will be completed."

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Courtesy Max Rose for Congress

Max Rose

Rose told the Advance that he supports banning assault weapons.

"When it comes to weapons of war like the AR-15, no one should have them on our streets. Period," said Rose, a U.S. Army combat veteran. "I carried its military variant in Afghanistan. I know that it has only one purpose: kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible."

Rose also supported background checks, closing the "Boyfriend Loophole," and aiding law enforcement to help those with suicidal thoughts.

"But we can't stop at banning assault weapons. We need to expand our background check laws to included all gun sales, including those occurring online or at gun shows," Rose said. "We have to go after illegal gun traffickers, close the Boyfriend Loophole that allows convicted domestic abusers to own a gun, and empower law enforcement to help those struggling with suicidal thoughts. This shouldn't be controversial, it's common sense, and it's time we stood up to the NRA and actually got it done."

Rose also raised caution about pinning gun violence on individuals with mental illnesses.

"It's critical that we support, not stigmatize, those with mental health issues," said Rose. "But we can't pin our entire gun violence problem on mental health."

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Courtesy of Paul Sperling

Paul Sperling

Paul Sperling, a Tottenville resident, said that he would advocate for a system that would allow a judge or police to flag an individual as dangerous if they attempt to by a gun.

"The terrorist from Parkland, Florida, had 39 interactions with the police because of violent altercations with his host family and neighbors," said Sperling. "The system I am advocating for would allow law enforcement and a judge to flag a person like him as someone who is known to be violent. This red-flag would pop up when a potential terrorist like him attempts to buy a gun in a gun store. And would alert the store clerk not to sell the weapon. We could further strengthen this system by applying background checks to all gun sales, including sales between individuals outside of a gun store."

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Courtesy Omar Vaid for Congress

Omar Vaid

Omar Vaid, a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, resident who worked in television production, said that he supports universal background checks.

"I am an advocate for universal background checks," said Vaid. "The vast majority of guns used in crimes in NYC come from states with lax gun laws that permit unlicensed, private sellers to sell arms without a background check. This makes it far easier for straw purchasers to obtain weapons to traffic into our streets and schools. This is unacceptable."

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How would they improve our infrastructure?

As part of the upcoming congressional primaries, the Advance asked the candidates to respond to several questions about key issues.

See how they would improve our infrastructure here.

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