A Clinton spokesperson walked back Hillary Clinton's support for Australian gun confiscation during an MSNBC interview on Monday.
While speaking with Andrea Mitchell, Jennifer Palmieri said Hillary Clinton does not support gun confiscation despite the Democrat presidential candidate telling a crowd on Friday Australian-style mandatory gun buybacks "would be worth considering doing it on the national level."
"Finally a quick question on gun control because the nra on the weekend really went after her," Mitchell said. "Was she suggesting in her town hall meetings in New Hampshire on Friday, which she said she would look into the australian system, was she suggesting confiscation of guns?"
"Of course not," Palmieri responded. "She was, what she was referring to is places where there have been mass shootings and the countries have done something. She has put forward a very common-sense proposal that would have background checks for everyone, that would remove the special protections the gun industry has from liability but it's all very common-sense measures the majority of the public supports."
When asked if Clinton supports gun buybacks Palmieri said yes but seemed to cite only voluntary gun buybacks in American cities instead of the mandatory buybacks in Australia. "Yes, a number of cities do do that," she said. "It's been effective."
The National Rifle Association (NRA) said Friday that Clinton's comments in support of Australian gun confiscation was validated their long held skepticism of gun control proponents. "This validates what the NRA has said all along," executive director of the NRA’s lobbying arm Chris Cox said in a release. "The real goal of gun control supporters is gun confiscation. Hillary Clinton, echoing President Obama’s recent remarks on the same issue, made that very clear."
When asked if Hillary is "going to be badly hurt" by the NRA's opposition, Palmieri chuckled at the suggestion. "I do not," she said. "She, as you have heard her discuss this, this is an issue she really cares passionately about. There is no reason why we can't be doing more to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them. Most gun owners feel the same way."
"This is a fight she is very happy to have."