Elizabeth Warren calls for higher taxes, NRA investigation as part of gun control plan

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Democratic 2020 hopeful Elizabeth Warren on Saturday unveiled a sweeping gun control proposal that would see higher taxes on gun manufacturers, waiting periods for guns and an investigation into the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The Massachusetts senator's proposal comes a week after the two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio that left more than 30 people dead and dozens injured. Warren begins her plan with a goal of dramatically reducing gun deaths and then proposing policies that would help achieve that goal.

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“In 2017, almost 40,000 people died from guns in the United States. My goal as President, and our goal as a society, will be to reduce that number by 80 percent,” Warren said in a Medium post announcing the plan. “We might not know how to get all the way there yet. But we’ll start by implementing solutions that we believe will work.”

Warren proposes executive action to “rein in an out-of-control” gun industry and hold manufacturers accountable for gun violence. Those actions include background checks, extending bulk sale reporting requirements and raising the minimum age for purchase on certain guns.

She also promises to investigate “the NRA and its cronies.”

“The NRA is accused of exploiting loopholes in federal laws governing non-profit spending to divert member dues into lavish payments for its board members and senior leadership,” she says. “I’ll appoint an attorney general committed to investigating these types of corrupt business practices, and the banks and third-party vendors — like Wells Fargo — that enabled the NRA to skirt the rules for so long.”

Warren goes on to propose a law that would impose criminal liability and jail time for gun company CEOS if their company “is found guilty of a crime or their negligence causes severe harm to American families.”

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Her plan also says that a President Warren would push to end the Senate filibuster to make it easier for Congress to pass a package of gun reforms that she says she would sign within the first 100 days of her presidency.

Part of that package would include as assault weapons ban, a ban on “high-capacity ammunition magazines” and a ban on “deadly gun accessories.” Her legislation would also increase taxes on gun manufacturers, including raising taxes to 30 percent on guns and 50 percent on ammunition “to reduce new gun and ammunition sales overall and to bring in new federal revenue that we can use for gun violence prevention and enforcement of existing gun laws.”

Other proposals including prohibiting anyone convicted of a hate crime from owning a gun, and passing extreme risk protection laws to allow a temporary restriction of gun access for those in crisis or at higher risk of harming themselves or others.

The plan comes as Warren heads to Iowa with a number of other 2020 hopefuls, where they will be speaking at a gun safety forum in Des Moines.

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Typically gun control is an intensely partisan issue, but in the days since the shootings, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have expressed their openness to passing enhanced background checks into law.

“Guns should not be placed in the hands of mentally ill or deranged people," Trump tweeted Friday. "I am the biggest Second Amendment person there is, but we all must work together for the good and safety of our Country. Common sense things can be done that are good for everyone!”

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.