Cory Booker: ‘I’m Not Afraid Of Law Abiding Gun Owners’ [Video]

Newark New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, who plans to run for US Senate, said on ABC yesterday that law-abiding citizens should be able to buy all the guns they want.

The current gun control controversy following the Newtown, Connecticut shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School has led to a “false debate” that is a “convenient trick to divide our country,” Booker insisted on ABC News This Week (See clip below).

The mayor is a strong advocate of background checks for gun purchases to address gun violence and maintains that most Americans, including firearms owners, agree with that approach.

On the ABC roundtable, Booker said in part:

“I’m not afraid of law-abiding citizens who buy a gun,” he said. “Buy the guns you want. What the problem is in America right now is that a terrorist person who is on the no-fly list could go into the secondary market today and buy a weapon.

“Criminals are killing people. Not law-abiding gun owners.”

Booker also added that as mayor, he has personally seen people shot and wounded in his city. “Of all the shootings in my city, only one I can find was done by a law-abiding citizen [who] was mentally stable that bought a gun,” he added.

Booker got into trouble with his fellow Democrats during the 2012 presidential campaign when he criticized Team Obama for attacks on Bain Capital, although he later backpedaled.

Watch Newark Mayor Cory Booker talk about gun violence on ABC:

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Do you think Booker’s comments that depart from traditional liberalism are really his actual views about guns, or is he just moderating his views like an ambitious local politician who now is seeking statewide office?