Candidates' views on gun control differ

A question on gun control saw the three Democratic candidates for president looking to differentiate themselves on the issue.

Moderator John Dickerson asked Hillary Clinton how her record on gun control differs from that of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Clinton has criticized Sanders as being weak on the issue. Dickerson pointed out that they now advocate similar changes.

"I think there are different records," Clinton said. "I know that Sen. Sanders had a different vote than I did when it came to giving immunity to gun makers and sellers. That was a terrible mistake. It basically gave the gun lobby even more power to intimidate legislators not just in Washington but across the country."

But Dickerson pressed her again. He asked why Sanders should be "tattooed" with that vote while she asks to be absolved of her vote to invade Iraq.

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"I said I made a mistake on Iraq," Clinton said. "And I would love to see Sen. Sanders join with some of my colleagues in the Senate that I see in the audience. Let’s reverse the immunity. Let’s put the gun makers on notice that they’re not going to get away with it."

Sanders, though, stopped short of saying he made a mistake in voting against a bill that would have enacted stricter gun measures.

He said he wants to see the issue of background checks and other proposed changes revisited.

"I want to see us do away with the gun show loophole," he said. "In 1988 I lost an election because I said we should not have assault weapons on the streets of America. We have to do away with the straw man proposal. We need radical changes in mental health in America so somebody who’s suicidal or homicidal can get emergency care they need. We have — I don’t know that there’s any disagreement here."

That's when former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley jumped into the fray, saying, "Oh, yes, there is."

O'Malley has worked to portray himself as the toughest presidential candidate on gun control.

“Senator, I do think we do need to repeal that immunity that you granted to the gun industry," he said to Sanders.

"But, Secretary Clinton, you’ve been on three sides of this. When you ran in 2000, you said that we needed federal robust regulations, then in 2008 you were portraying yourself as Annie Oakley and saying we don’t need those regulations on the federal level, and now you come back around here. So, John, there’s a big difference in leading by polls and leading with principle.”