Hillary Clinton says Heller gun-rights case was about toddlers

Hillary Clinton says Heller gun-rights case was about toddlers

AP fact-check calls claim about landmark Second Amendment decision a mischaracterization

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Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton waves to guests following the third presidential debate with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at UNLV in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) more >

The Washington Times - Thursday, October 20, 2016

During Wednesday’s presidential debate, Hillary Clinton defended her disagreement with the landmark Supreme Court decision on gun rights by saying it was about keeping toddlers from gaining access to firearms.

An Associated Press fact check found that Mrs. Clinton mischaracterized the main holding in the 2008 decision, in which the justices overturned a longstanding Washington, D.C., law that had largely banned handgun ownership in the city.

“What the District of Columbia was trying to do was to protect toddlers from guns,” the Democratic candidate said about the decision in District of Columbia v. Heller.

“So they wanted people with guns to safely store them and the court didn’t accept that reasonable regulation. But they’ve accepted many others, so I see no conflict between saving people’s lives and defending the Second Amendment,” Mrs. Clinton said.

The court’s ruling did strike down a city provision that required those who owned firearms, such as rifles and shotguns, to keep them either unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock in their homes.

But the word “toddler” doesn’t appear in the landmark case, which is more widely known for striking down the District’s near-total ban on handgun ownership and for establishing for the first time that the Second Amendment does guarantee a right to keep a gun in the home for self-defense.

Mrs. Clinton said she was upset by the ruling because “unfortunately dozens of toddlers injure themselves, even kill people, with guns.”

Fending back criticism from Republican candidate Donald Trump that she would dismantle the Second Amendment, Mrs. Clinton said “common sense regulation” is not at odds with the right to keep and bear arms.

“I think we need comprehensive background checks, need to close the online loophole, close the gun show loophole. There’s other matters that I think are sensible that are the kind of reforms that would make a difference that are not in any way conflicting with the Second Amendment,” she said.

Asked why he supports a national right-to-carry law and opposes limits on high-capacity magazines, Mr. Trump referred to the high amount of gun violence in Chicago, which has very strict anti-gun laws, and said he hopes to strengthen gun rights through future appointments to the Supreme Court.

“We are going to appoint justices, this is the best way to help the Second Amendment,” Mr. Trump said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...s-case-was-ab/

Yeah, she's a nasty liar. The Heller case had absolutely nothing to do with "toddlers" or children. It has absolutely nothing to do with gun safety or having weapons secured at home. The Heller case was about the right to own a gun in the District of Columbia.