Presidential campaigns cross into Missouri

Senator Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Senator Bernie Sanders are all visiting Missouri Saturday, just days before the state’s primary election taking place on Tuesday.

ABC 17 News dug into two issues important to Missourians: gun rights and religious freedoms. We wanted to see where each candidate who is visiting Missouri stood on the issues.

For the Second Amendment, Senator Ted Cruz says the second amendment keeps Americans safe and secure. He says its more than target practice, it protects families. And when citizens cease to be able to defend themselves, they cease to be free. Donald Trump says the second amendment is clear and that law abiding citizens should be able to keep and bear arms. He says the country needs to get more serious about prosecuting violent criminals while also taking a look at the mental health system which he calls “broken”.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she wants to improve background checks and close loopholes during gun purchases. Clinton also says guns need to be kept out of the hands of terrorists as well as domestic abusers. Senator Bernie Sanders says he’d enforce the instant background check system as well as ban semi-automatic assault rifles. He also says he wants to work to fix the broken mental health care system.

The Missouri State Legislature just had a 40-filibuster about a religious freedom’s bill. So we wanted to see how the Presidential candidates felt about the issue.

Senator Ted Cruz says he wants to safeguard citizens’ God-given rights. He also defended Hobby Lobby in their pursuit to not be required to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees. And he also defended the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance in Texas. Donald Trump says he is pro-life, he would defund Planned Parenthood on the basis of the group providing abortions, and he believes the definition of a marriage should be determined by the states, not the Supreme Court.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is supportive of LGBT rights. She also wants to protect Planned Parenthood who she says provides affordable health coverage to women. She also says she would defend the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare”. Senator Bernie Sanders says he was in favor of SCOTUS’ same-sex marriage decision. He also said would not only defend, but expand Planned Parenthood. While Sanders was mayor in Burlington Vermont, he also defended the placement of a menorah at City Hall.

Both Clinton and Sanders applauded the Missouri State Legislature’s filibuster on the Religious Freedom bill that allows businesses to deny services based on religious beliefs.

EVENT TIMES/LOCATIONS:

Donald Trump:
Arvest Bank Theatre, Kansas City, MO., 6 p.m.

Ted Cruz:
Parkway West High School, Ballwin, MO., 10 a.m.
Adam’s Mark Hotel, Kansas City, MO., 1:30 p.m.
Southeast Missouri State, Cape Girardeau, MO., 5 p.m.
Evangel University, Springfield, MO., 8:30 p.m.

Hillary Clinton:
Nelson-Mulligan Carpenters’ Training Center, St. Louis, MO., 11 a.m.

Bernie Sanders:
Missouri State University, Springfield, MO., 7 p.m.

At last check, Senator Marco Rubio and Governor John Kasich had no events planned for Missouri.

The Missouri Primary takes place on Tuesday, March 15th.