Hillary Clinton uses Sandy Hook victims as ‘political props’ to shame Bernie Sanders on gun control

Hillary Clinton has mobilised a small troop of survivors and victims of horrific gun massacres to collectively call out Bernie Sanders on his gun control policies.

Mr Sanders told the New York Daily News that he does not think victims of a gun crime should be able to sue the weapon manufacturers.

He made the comment as survivors and victims’ families wait for a ruling in Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting took place in December 2012.

Mr Sanders, according to a transcript of the interview, was keen to clarify his statement and added: “But I do believe that gun manufacturers and gun dealers should be able to be sued when they should know that guns are going into the hands of the wrong people.

“So if somebody walks in and says, ”I'd like 10,000 rounds of ammunition,“ you know, well, you might be suspicious about that. So I think there are grounds for those suits, but not if you sell me a legal product.”

Ms Clinton nonetheless pounced on his comments and told MSNBC this week: “[Mr Sanders] would place gun manufacturers’ rights and immunity from liability against the parents of the children killed at Sandy Hook. It’s just unimaginable to me.”

Her campaign tweeted a clip of the video interview and it received hundreds of replies, many of which were incensed that Ms Clinton would “politicize” dead children and use victims as “props" to gain delegates for the upcoming Democratic convention.

Many people on the social media platform also pointed out her record with accepting money from the gun lobby and “approving arms deals” with Saudi Arabia.

Ms Clinton, now labelling herself as a staunch gun control advocate compared to Senator Sanders, has highlighted three women who were directly affected by gun massacres and who gathered on the steps of New York City Hall on Friday alongside New York City Public Advocate Letitia James to speak about their right to go to court.

The women are Erica Smegielski, daughter of the late Dawn Hochsprung, who was principal at Sandy Hook, Jillian Soto, sister of Victoria Soto, a teacher who was also killed, and Sandy Phillips, mother of Jessica Ghawi, who was killed in the Aurora cinema shooting in Colorado in July 2012.

Ms Smegielski, 30, tweeted “shame on you, @BernieSanders, try living one hour of our lives.” after she read his comments to the New York Daily News, and has demanded an apology for a “callous dismissal” of the families’ concerns.

While Bernie Sanders has accused Ms Clinton of accepting money from the gun lobby, Ms Clinton has fired back that Mr Sanders voted favourably for NRA legislation.

The democratic candidates have turned increasingly nasty in the run-up to the New York primary on 19 April, sparring over Mr Sanders’s comments on abortion and debating Ms Clinton’s monetary ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Ms Clinton also strongly objected to Mr Sanders' suggestion that she was not "qualified" to become president.