Election 2022: How U.S. Senate candidates Britt, Brooks and Durant stand on 3 key issues

On Jun 11, 2022

With only a few days before the May 24 Republican Primary, here is a breakdown of the stances of the three leading candidates for U.S. Senate on three of the most talked about campaign issues – guns, immigration, and abortion.

The stances on the issues were taken from comments made public by candidates Katie Britt, Mo Brooks and Mike Durant to AL.com, policy positions on their websites or social media, or to other media outlets.

Guns/Second Amendment:

Brooks was playing baseball with his fellow congressmen in 2017 when a gunman opened fire on the field. Police later found the gunman had listed Brooks as a top target. Speaking with reporters after the incident, Brooks doubled down on his support of the Second Amendment.

“The Second Amendment, right to bear arms, is to help ensure we always have a republic, so no, I’m not changing my position on any of the rights we enjoy as Americans.”

The NRA endorsed Mo Brooks as its candidate in this race.

“You voted against the so-called “universal” background check system, which would criminalize the private transfer of firearms between law-abiding citizens and is only enforceable through a federal firearms registry. Additionally, you voted to uphold constitutional due process protections for gun owners and to prevent federal bureaucrats from enacting indefinite delays of firearm purchases for law-abiding Americans, which would turn a fundamental right into a privilege,” the NRA said in its endorsement.

The association further touted Brook’s votes in favor of Right-to-Carry reciprocity legislation and voting to protect interstate transportation of firearms.

“Lastly, you continually oppose the Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gun control agenda of banning lawfully-owned firearms, ammunition and magazines,” the NRA said.

Durant is a former army pilot and says he is a lifelong hunter who regularly shoots his guns. He promises to protect the 2nd Amendment as a U.S. Senator.

“He’ll fight liberal gun-grabbers and defend your right to bear arms, always,” says an ad by Durant’s campaign.

Durant has taken criticism lately – including by opponent Katie Britt – over his statement in a 2011 speech at the Army War College that some U.S. cities would be safer if the populace were disarmed.

The NRA gave Durant a “AQ” rating, the highest a candidate can receive who has not held office.

“From a military perspective, the first thing that needs to be done is to disarm the population,” Durant said about 28 minutes into the speech. “Let’s face it, if we could do that in some of our U.S. cities, that would be a pretty good step toward law and order.”

The comment was an aside as he was speaking critically about Bill Clinton’s approach to the conflict in Somalia.

Durant has said that his words have been taken out of context in attack ads by his opponents and their supporters.

On the policy page of Durant’s website, he says he is for Constitutional carry, meaning no state permits are required for people who are legally allowed to carry a gun, and he will only support the appointment of judges who are pro-second amendment rights. He opposes red flag laws, which are used in an effort to prevent mass shootings, by restricting people from purchasing firearms if they show signs of being a threat to themselves or others.

Britt’s campaign ads show her trekking through fields with her husband, gun slung over her shoulder. In another video, she promises to “shoot straight” if elected.

“The Second Amendment exists to protect citizens from tyranny. Armed citizens are empowered citizens. This is why liberals want to disarm populations to take control— without firearms, Americans can be pushed towards anything,” she says on her 2nd Amendment policy page.

The NRA gave Britt a “AQ” rating, the highest a candidate can receive who has not held office.

“An ‘AQ’ rating is reserved for a pro-gun candidate whose rating is based on the candidate’s responses to the NRA-PVF candidate questionnaire, as well as public statements, and is the highest rating a candidate can receive without a voting record on Second Amendment issues,” the NRA said in a letter to Britt.

Britt’s platform includes supporting nationwide concealed carry reciprocity between states, prohibiting “red flag laws,” ending a $200 tax on rare guns, and writing an amicus brief in support of gun rights in a U.S. Supreme Court case after New York state required gun license holders to “show good cause” before carrying a weapon anywhere

“Those who want to disarm Americans want to control Americans and push us towards socialism, and as your Senator, I will never let this happen,” said Britt.

Election 2022: GOP primary race for Alabama Senate seat turns bitter

Immigration:

Durant, according to public statements, thinks immigrants are good for the economy. He supports increasing legal immigration to fill certain jobs, while stemming undocumented immigrants from entering the country by building President Trump’s wall.

Durant’s proposals are to finish the wall at the southern border, block taxpayer-funded benefits going to undocumented immigrants, ban sanctuary cities, and prevent non-citizens from voting in places like New York City that have legalized the vote for immigrants.

Durant believes undocumented immigrants are a threat to public safety.

“Mike Durant knows there are several major problems posed by illegal immigration: crime and the drug trade are major ones, with many overdoses caused by illegal immigrant gangs bringing in deadly narcotics,” spokesman Scott Stone said to AL.com in April.

Durant calls his support of legal immigrant workers an “America First” vision.

“If there’s a shortage of labor, you’ve got to pay labor more to do the jobs that you need done,” business owner and U.S. Army veteran Mike Durant said on a Zoom call with an Alabama-based consulting firm called BMSS Inc. Breitbart News obtained and published a recording of the call.

Durant is not backing down from his position, despite taking some heat on the issue. On the Jeff Poor Show this month, he reiterated his approach.

“How we deal with people who want to come here legally to participate in our economy, pay taxes, be a part of this great nation that we have built, which was built on immigrants, is another issue, and they’re trying to tie the two together, and again, mislead the voters and say that I am not tough on illegal immigration. I am the toughest on illegal immigration.”

Brooks says he wants American to get back to building the wall.

He says he is a staunch protector of America’s borders.

As a Congressman, Brooks has filed a number of bills to restrict immigration as a U.S. Congressman. His proposed legislation included raising penalties for undocumented immigrants who re-enter the country and for penalizing so-called “sanctuary cities” that do not aggressively pursue all immigration enforcement efforts.

“I have fought for border security and struggling American families since my first day in Congress,” Brooks said to AL.com in April.

In 2011, the Congressman stated he would “do anything short of shooting them” to keep undocumented immigrants out of the country.

His comments came following criticism from the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and several Congress Members who were upset after Brooks defended Alabama’s controversial immigration law to deport large numbers of undocumented immigrants. Brooks previously compared undocumented immigrants to “house-breakers.”

During his time in Congress, he has proposed legislation to limit visa worker programs and to mandate employers use the E-Verify program to catch undocumented workers.

Congressman Brooks has been outspoken in the national media against the Biden Administration after Biden reversed Trump-era immigration restrictions after taking office.

“I support rational levels of legal immigration that leads to a stable rather than continually growing US population. America simply must limit the flow of people into our country to preserve our natural environment and resources,” said Brooks on the immigration policy page of his website.

Brooks vowed to tackle the use of undocumented immigrants for labor, emphasizing that undocumented immigrants heighten the risk of terrorism.

Britt says she wants to build President Trump’s wall. She would like to bring back Trump’s Remain in Mexico, policy, which requires immigrants to stay in Mexico while a court rules on their asylum cases, a policy Biden ended, resulting in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Britt says she believes Biden’s immigration policy changes have created a humanitarian crisis at the border, effectively turning Alabama into a border state.

“Consequences of these policies that directly affect Alabama include spikes in deadly drugs, violent crime, and human…