From New Hampshire’s White Mountains to the Denver suburbs, a new crop of Democratic congressional candidates is campaigning on what’s been a difficult topic for the party, especially in rural and conservative areas: gun control.
But these aren’t the stereotypical Democrats portrayed by gun-rights supporters as elitists who haven’t held a firearm. They’re U.S. military veterans who say new steps must be taken to prevent weapons of war from being used in domestic mass shootings.
Recruiting veterans is a key part of Democrats’ strategy to gain House seats in this year’s elections, and there are at least 25 running in primaries. Most have been advocating new controls on guns, or beefed-up background checks, since the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Florida, often citing their own experience with firearms.
“The weapons of war, the assault weapons our teams used in Iraq, have no place on the streets of the United States,” said Democrat Maura Sullivan, a Marine Corps veteran running for the House in a New Hampshire district that has elected representatives from both parties in recent years. “We spent months in training before we were ever issued a weapon and live ammunition.”
Democrats are trying to take control of the House in November’s midterm elections, when all 435 seats in the chamber are on the ballot. They need to gain a net total of 24 seats to win the majority, which would allow them to block President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. The party’s odds of gaining a majority in the Senate, where the GOP holds a one-vote majority, are steeper because Democrats hold most of the seats up for election this year.
