During the July 30 Democrat Debate Bernie Sanders pledged numerous new gun controls focused on gun sales and also made clear his intention to remove protections that spare gunmakers from lawsuits.

Sanders made clear that he had a D- rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) now, and suggested it will probably drop to an F if he wins the presidency.

He said Democrats “have to have the guts to take on the NRA.”

He then set forth the gun control plan he will follow if elected to the White House, saying:

I will do everything I can not only to take on the NRA, but expand and create universal background checks, do away with the straw man provision, do away with the gun show loophole, and do away with the loopholes that now exist for gun manufacturers who are selling large amounts of weapons into communities that are going to gangs.

A couple of points: 1. Straw purchases are already banned. ATF background check form 4473 makes clear the person trying to buy a gun must, in fact, be the actual purchaser in order for the purchase to be approved. 2. California has had universal background checks for over two decades, yet the state continues to catch national attention for high profile shooting after high profile shooting. 3. There is no gun show loophole. Never has been. The majority of sales at gun shows go through an FFL (Federal Firearms License holder). The left’s “gun show loophole” mantra is a way to demonize private gun sales, which were the only kind we had from December 15, 1791–the ratification of the Second Amendment–until Bill Clinton’s 1998 background check gun control bill.

Now, the overwhelming majority of mass shooters get their guns via background checks. The exceptions are those who steal their firearms.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.