President Biden stated that the Second Amendment is “not absolute,” then segued into a gun control push that included at least eight different gun law proposals.
Here are a list of Biden’s proposed gun controls:
- Ban “Assault Weapons”
- Ban ‘high capacity” magazines.
- If banning is not possible, then raise purchase age for AR-15s and similar rifles to 21
- “Strengthen background checks”
- “Enact [a] safe storage law”
- “red flag law”
- “Repeal the immunity of gun manufacturers from liability.”
- Address the mental health crisis
Biden elaborated on the “assault weapons” ban proposal, saying that the previous ban (1994-2004) specifically banned “nine categories of semiautomatic weapons, like AK-47s and AR-15s.”
He added, “We should limit how many rounds a weapon can hold? Why in God’s name should an ordinary citizen be able to purchase an ‘assault weapon’ that holds 30 rounds magazines that let mass shooters fire hundreds of bullets in a matter of minutes?”
Biden said background checks should be expanded, and this has long been a Democrat goal. They want to expand checks on retail sales so as to include private sales. Biden did not mention that such an expansion would have have stopped the vast majority of high-profile mass shooters during the past 15 years, as nearly every one of those shooters got their guns by passing a background check at retail.
He said, “I also believe we should have safe storage laws and personal liability for not locking up your gun.”
He added, “If you own a weapon, you have a responsibility to secure it….if you don’t [lock it up] and something bad happens you should be held responsible.”
Biden pushed “national red flag laws” but did not mention that California and Illinois have red flag laws, yet California is regularly in the news for gun violence – most recently for the shooting deaths of 6 people in Sacramento and the attack on the church in Laguna Woods.
And the Illinois city of Chicago is regularly in the news for gun violence. Forty-Six people were shot in Chicago over Memorial Weekend 2022 alone.
On April 9, 2021, Breitbart News did a FACT CHECK on Biden’s claim that gun makers enjoy “immunity” from liability via the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
The VERDICT: Biden’s claim is false. PLCAA simply shields gun makers in instances where the guns in view were lawfully made and lawfully sold.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at [email protected]. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
