Ohio entrepreneur Bernie Moreno is currently running to secure the Republican nomination for Senate. The primary campaign is in full swing and the candidate enjoys the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. However, his stance on gun control might be a sticking point for conservative voters in the Buckeye State.
Moreno has spoken out in favor of the type of gun control laws favored by anti-gunner elements on the left. During a 2019 interview, he advocated for state-imposed limits on the number of rounds one can have in a magazine, similar to policies in states like California.
But this whole gun debate, damn, we can’t say this is how many magazines a gun can have. What gun do you need to have 100 bullets in it? That doesn’t mean I’m going to take your g*ddamn gun away. Do you really have 100 bullets at one time?
Moreno and the host had a brief back and forth in which they appeared to poke fun at gun owners who wanted to carry too many rounds. Then, the candidate brought up the argument that gun control laws do not protect people because criminals do not obey them, acknowledging that this was “true” while still trying to debunk it.
He countered the argument by noting that “locking my door isn’t going to prevent intruders,” but that it “does make you a little safer,” and suggested that it will “make it a little bit harder.”
After, he made a bizarre comparison to how pornographic material is rated.
Moreno has also helped to fund at least one anti-gunner organization. He sat on the board of the Cleveland Foundation in 2017 when it gave a $10,000 grant to the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund.
Everytown for Gun Safety is one of the nation’s premier gun control advocacy groups. It has helped to pass several anti-gun laws across the country.
According to his spokesman, the position he articulated during the interview is “unequivocally” not his current position on gun control.
Moreno has previously claimed he would never pursue political office. He made a fortune in the car dealership industry and later ventured into blockchain technology. But now, he is running to win the opportunity to challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown for his Senate seat. He is currently facing two other Republican candidates: Ohio State Sen. Matt Dolan and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
In December 2023, former President Donald Trump gave Moreno his endorsement in an announcement on Truth Social:
The former president and 2024 presidential candidate backed Moreno, a wealthy Cleveland businessman, in a post on his social media network, Truth Social, Tuesday.
“Bernie Moreno, a highly respected businessman from the GREAT State of Ohio, is exactly the type of MAGA fighter that we need in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote. He said Moreno would “always stand up to the Fascist ‘nut jobs’ and the spineless RINOS” and is the “successful political outsider” needed to defeat Brown, whom he labeled a “Liberal career politician.”
Moreno has branded himself as a political outsider seeking to pursue a conservative agenda in the upper chamber of the legislature. However, some have taken issue with his seeming flip-flop on gun control and raised doubts as to whether he is truly serious about protecting the Second Amendment.
