Yang unveils plan to tackle gun violence and white nationalism

White House hopeful Andrew Yang unveiled a platform to curb gun violence and tackle hate and white nationalism. 

The plan’s release comes days after a shooter killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas, after authoring a racist manifesto warning of a “Hispanic invasion.” The suspect reportedly told authorities upon his surrender that he was targeting “Mexicans.”

{mosads}“Gun violence is a symptom of many underlying diseases. As a people, we need to come together, recognize all causes of gun violence, and implement policies that will combat this scourge,” said Yang, an entrepreneur. “I’m a parent of two young boys. I want to look them in their eyes every day when they walk out our front door and be able to tell them that they’re safe.” 

The multipronged plan leads with improving political rhetoric, with Yang specifically citing President Trump’s rhetoric that he says is “continually dehumanizing other people and using violent imagery and jokes” that may spark violence.

The entrepreneur vowed he would “be sure to never use dehumanizing language to describe anyone” and call out leaders across the aisle who use offensive rhetoric.

He also says he would establish a central site to aggregate statistics on white nationalism, boost the budget for fighting domestic terrorism to match non-military spending on combating foreign terrorism and invest in nonprofits to help people disengage from white nationalist groups.

The plan goes on to support popular gun control reforms such as universal background checks and banning assault rifles and curbing the influence of lobbyists, specifically citing the National Rifle Association. 

A number of other Democratic presidential contenders have unveiled their own plans to curb gun violence or tackle white nationalism since the El Paso shooting, including South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.