Congressman Eric Swalwell says his proposal about assault weapons is getting a good response

Last Thursday, USA Today posted a Letter to the Editor from Congressman Eric Swalwell (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/03/magazine/money-issue-iowa-lottery-fraud-mystery.html) which suggested banning assault weapons, but also spending up to $15 billion to buy back existing assault weapons currently owned by the public.

Appearing in Decorah Sunday for a Democratic Party fundraiser, Swalwell told decorahnews.com that even gun owners have been agreeing with him since his letter was posted.  Swalwell was elected to Congress right after the Sandy Hook shooting, but no changes in gun laws were approved then.  He says he was surprised that no action was taken, but thinks it's possible now that many high school and college students have taken up the issue.

But Swalwell thinks there are two other issues which might have to be tackled first--what he calls "dirty maps" and "dirty money."  He's drafting legislation to have all Congressional district lines redrawn by independent commissions, so gerrymandering won't be so common.  And he favors any steps which can be taken to reduce the impact of the Citizens United ruling by the US Supreme Court, which equated campaign contributions with free speech.  He says the public would welcome caps on campaign contributions, as well as public financing.

Swalwell grew up in Iowa, but his family moved to the San Francisco area while Eric was still in school.  After earning a law degree, he worked as a county prosecutor and served on the city council in Dublin, California. He was first elected to Congress in 2012 from a district in the Oakland area.  He's the ranking member of the House CIA Intelligence Subcommittee and a member of the Judiciary Committee.