Julian Castro: In An ‘Ideal World’ People Wouldn’t Own Handguns

An “ideal world” would include no handguns, former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro told the New York Times during an interview project.

The project asked 21 Democratic presidential hopeful’s 18 questions. Former Vice President Joe Biden was the only person to reject repeated requests to participate, the NYT said. One question asked the Democrats: “In an ideal world, would anyone own handguns?”

“In an ideal world, people wouldn’t own handguns,” Castro replied on video. “And there are a number of countries around the world where people do not own handguns, where they’re not permitted. And those countries have more safety, greater safety, less violent deaths and so forth.”

Many of the other Democratic candidates said that people should be allowed to own handguns, including California Rep. Eric Swalwell, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Most noted their respect for the Second Amendment, telling the NYT that they would not look to infringe upon this right. However, most of them also indicated that there needs to be stricter gun laws in light of gun violence.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Brooker echoed Castro’s no-nonsense view on handguns.

“As president of the United States, I’m going to bring a fight to this problem like folks have never seen before,” Brooker told the NYT.