Clinton: Guns that kill New Yorkers come from Vermont

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is blaming Bernie Sanders’s home state of Vermont for selling many of the guns used to commit crimes in New York.

Clinton, speaking Monday night at a gun violence roundtable in New York, ticked off a list of Sanders’s past votes on guns, including opposition to background check bills, and said he is using a straw-man argument to explain his record.

{mosads}“When challenged on his gun stances, he frequently says, ‘You know, I represent Vermont, it’s a small rural state, we have no gun laws,’” she said.

“Here’s what I want you to know: Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont.”

Sandy Phillips, the mother of a woman killed during the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn., also appeared at the roundtable.

Phillips attempted to bring a lawsuit against the online retailer who sold gear to her daughter’s killer. But her case was dismissed thanks to the immunity provision — which Clinton noted that Sanders had voted for.  

Clinton has focused on gun control in her attacks on Sanders before the April 19 New York primary.

Monday’s comments represented a sharp attack by Clinton after tensions between the two Democrats boiled over last week, when Sanders accused Clinton of not being qualified to serve as president.