Biden Widens the List of “Assault Weapons” to Ban by Tom Reynolds
On July 21st, on CNN, President Joe Biden turned to the subject of guns and added the 9mm handgun to a list of firearms he'd like to ban. At the hour-long town hall, he said:
“The idea you need a weapon that can have the ability to fire 20, 30, 40, 50, 120 shots from that weapon — whether it’s a — whether it’s a 9-millimeter pistol or whether it’s a rifle — is ridiculous. I’m continuing to push to eliminate the sale of those things…”
The left’s favorite “boogie man” is the Assault Rifle, which would be more properly called the Modern Sporting Rifle, since there are over 20 million of them in circulation. The 9mm might now be called the Modern Sporting Pistol since, according to production figures from federal regulators, over 2.2 million new 9mm pistols were produced in the U.S. in 2018, more than any other caliber. The 9mm cartridge has been marketed in the U.S. for well over a century.
Whether it’s the Modern Sporting Rifle or Pistol, Joe Biden and his administration are coming for them.
Biden Wrestles with Facts…and Loses
As defenders of the 2nd Amendment, we have the facts on our side. Unfortunately, those facts do not get publicized by the left-wing media. Politicians and other anti 2A people can lie and distort with little fear of being contradicted by their media supporters. For instance, when President Biden spoke to a Joint Session of Congress on April 28th, the President got plenty wrong about firearms but you didn’t hear the facts on CNN or read them in the NY Times.
“I’ve done before and I’ll do it again,” Biden says. “In the 90s we passed universal background checks. A ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that hold a hundred rounds…that can be fired off in seconds. We beat the NRA. Mass shootings and gun violence declined. Check out the report over ten years.”
Yes, please do check out the report. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, the “Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), which also restricted magazine capacity, did not reduce crime rates.” As further evidence that Biden is again on the wrong side of history (and facts), after the 10-year-ban expired in 2004 the violent crime rate in America dropped steadily while ownership of Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) rose dramatically.
President Biden also referenced his gun control executive actions, including banning so-called “ghost guns.” “Anyone from a criminal or terrorist could buy one of these kits and within 30 minutes have a weapon that’s lethal,” the president claimed.
30 minutes? That reminds me of Barack Obama’s claim in 2015, at another Town Hall, that, “As long as you can go on into some neighborhoods, and it’s easier for you to buy a firearm than it is for you to buy a book, there are neighborhoods where it’s easier for you to buy a handgun and clips than it is for you to buy a fresh vegetable.” Obviously, Obama and I do not hang out in the same neighborhoods.
“Ghost guns” are unfinished firearms and unassembled parts that have been legal since before the founding of our country. They are time-consuming and expensive to assemble with questionable quality control but Biden and gun control advocates support banning them in order to get their gun control credentials stamped.
President Biden wasn’t done stretching the truth. “I don’t want to become confrontational, but we need more Senate Republicans to join the overwhelming majority of Democratic colleagues and close the loopholes on background check purchases of guns.”
Every firearm transfer from a licensed retailer, whether at a store, gun show or initiated online, must be completed in a face-to-face transaction, with signed background check forms, and verification through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The problem is that criminals do not follow the law and Biden’s suggestions only create more laws for them to ignore.
As far as his claims of widespread gun control support - that’s cratering. Even Newsweek admitted it.
President Biden’s is also wrong on what the American people want. “I think this is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is an American issue,” the president said. He should have added that it is also not an issue with the more than 21 million people who passed a NICS check to purchase a firearm in 2020, including more than 8.4 million first-time buyers. The pace hasn’t slowed so far in 2021 either.
On firearms, President Biden needs to get his facts straight and get a better read on what the American people want.
