DeKALB — A Democratic forum was hosted at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St., Sunday afternoon.

Four Democratic candidates, Amy Briel, Sara Dady, Neill Mohammad and Beth Vercolio-Osmund, who are running in the March 20 16th Congressional District primary race spoke. The forum was sponsored by DeKalb Stands, a women’s rights group that is focused in DeKalb, Sycamore and the surrounding area, according to its webpage.

Each candidate addressed the crowd with a brief opening statement. The questions posed to the candidates were generated by the crowd before the forum began, and each candidate had no more than 60 seconds to deliver their answer.

The questions asked ranged from why each candidate thought he or she could beat the incumbent, Adam Kinzinger, to international issues, such as tension between the United States and North Korea.

Even with only a minute to deliver their response, each candidate had enough time to include a few shots at the 16th district incumbent Adam Kinzinger.

The question that seemed to garner the most attention throughout the forum was Second Amendment rights and current gun policies.

“As our children get gunned down in our schools, congress debates how high to build the wall,” Briel said, “What I don’t understand is why the current GOP is beholden to the gun lobby.”

Mohammad said he thinks Americans need fewer guns. He said cartridges and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds should be banned.

Another major question of the night was what to do about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and immigration.

Dady, who practices immigration law, said the 16th district has a large community of DACA recipients. She said it’s wrong to separate parents, who’ve worked hard to give their families a better life in the U.S., from their children.

“We can’t leave out the DACA parents” Dady said.

Vercolio-Osmund said her father’s parents immigrated to the United States before he was born, making him their only child born in the U.S. She said if Dreamers had been around in that time, he would have been one.

When the discussion centered on climate change and how to deal with it, Vercolio-Osmund said many Americans are dependent on fossil fuels, and there is a need to confront environmental effects that dependency has caused.

“Climate change is real,” Vercolio-Osmund said. “It is a fact.”

Mohammad said China’s government has invested money into clean and renewable energy and has set an example the United States should follow.

“We know what we need to do, and what we need to do is follow China,” Mohammad said.

When asked about tension between the United States and North Korea, Dady and Briel agreedediplomacy is absent from discussions between each country’s leader.