President Joe Biden wasted little time calling for gun control following the tragic murders of six innocent Americans by a mentally unstable person who was known to be a threat. Similarly, White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre demanded a litany of gun control in a press briefing following the tragedy in Louisville, Ky., before the basic facts of the incident were known.
Less than two weeks after a transgender student shot her way into The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., the president tweeted his gun control call.
“Congress must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of firearms, eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and require background checks for all gun sales, and state officials must do the same,” President Biden said. The Tweet was accompanied by a graphic saying, “Ban Assault Weapons.”
He’s conceded there isn’t much more he can do on his own for gun control.
What’s The Truth?
The president’s desire to ban so-called “assault weapons” is never-ending, even though he runs into resistance from his own party, not to mention a majority of Americans. The data doesn’t support a ban on the more than 24.4 million legally-owned Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs). The president got pushback.
“First define what an ‘Assault Weapon’ is before you demand to ban it,” one Twitter user replied. That’s a good point. The administration has never defined what they mean by “assault weapon.” The president’s first and failed nominee to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), David Chipman, became flustered in his U.S. Senate nomination hearing when questioned before admitting, “Senator, there’s no way I could define an assault weapon.” Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives also flub firearm terminology when debating gun restrictions on law-abiding Americans. Similarly, the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was unable to define what an “assault weapon” is, even though he supports banning them.
If the president and the incessant gun control groups calling for a ban on MSRs acknowledged what the data shows, they’d see the folly of such an ineffective call. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report shows more intentional murders are committed by criminals using knives, fists, and blunt objects than by rifles of any kind, not just MSRs like the AR-15.
Another responder pointed out an additional reason why the president’s call isn’t a serious solution, referring to the 42nd president. “Mr. Clinton tried the same thing…didn’t work.” It’s true. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined after the 1994 ban expired in 2004, it did not reduce crime, and the impact on gun violence of renewing it would be “too small for reliable measurement.” Reason.com just highlighted what NSSF industry data had shown all along: the number of Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) in private circulation has grown exponentially since 1990 while unintentional firearm fatalities have reached record lows and overall crime involving firearms has trended lower.
And, even if there were enough votes in Congress to ban MSRs, such a law would violate the Second Amendment based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Heller and, more recently, in Bruen.
More Pinocchios, Please
In yet another sign demonstrating the president’s continued unseriousness about his plans to hold criminals accountable, he again repeated a lie he’d been called out on several times before. It’s not like the administration doesn’t know their own favored media outlets have told them they’re making false statements. They know – they just keep repeating the lie.
“Eliminate the gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability,” the president said. Here, he’s just flat wrong. It was wrong when he falsely claimed one year ago in The White House Rose Garden, “They [manufacturers] are the only outfit — (applause) — they’re the only outfit in the country that is immune.” Before that, at a “Gun Violence Strategies Partnership” event in New York City, he was joined by Attorney General Merrick Garland, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and remarked, “Imagine had we had a liabil… [sic] they’re the only industry in America that is exempted from being able to be sued by the public. Only one. Why the gun manufacturers?”
It wasn’t true then; it’s not true now. It was a lie then and it’s still a lie. The Washington Post, CNN, PolitiFact, the Associated Press and many more have all rebuked the president on his false claim. “They [firearm manufacturers] are not exempt or immune from being sued,” wrote the AP. “Gun manufacturers can certainly be sued…Biden is wrong to say gun manufacturers are alone,” was the Washington Post’s response.
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) protects firearm manufacturers from frivolous lawsuits that seek to blame them for the criminal misuse of legal, non-defective lawfully sold firearms by remote third parties who are beyond the control of manufacturers. Allowing a member of the firearm industry to be sued for the criminal misuse of a firearm would be like allowing Ford to be sued by the victim of a drunk driving accident because a Ford was driven by someone under the influence of alcohol.
What’s Left?
The president has received a fair amount of unfriendly fire from would-be allies who believe he isn’t “doing enough” to pass more gun control restrictions. Never mind, his proposals don’t have the support of all Democrats in the U.S. Senate majority. Every firearm sold at retail requires the buyer to pass an FBI National Instant Criminals Background Check System (NICS) verification in order to take the firearm home. Requiring a NICS check on private firearm sales necessitates a national firearm registry in order to work – and that is already outlawed by the 1986 Gun Control Act, the Brady Act of 1993, and an appropriation law funding ATF.
The president’s last demand – “requiring safe storage of firearms” – is unconstitutional as the Supreme Court ruled in its Heller decision in 2008. NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi have testified against both federal and state mandatory storage laws while supporting other safe storage options.
The firearm industry remains committed to the hard work needed to reduce access to firearms by prohibited individuals and those who cannot be trusted with a firearm. It’s something the entire gun-owning community agrees on, and it takes serious and sober discussions about how to best accomplish that critical goal. The president’s repeated pattern of putting empty politics over serious policy proposals shows where his focus is. Not on holding criminals accountable or protecting Americans’ Constitutional rights, but on control and restricting rights.
About The National Shooting Sports Foundation
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations, and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org
And yet, despite a registry being forbidden by law, the FBATFE has one, AGAIN, and is actively updating it. The press has covered it, and no one is in jail for violating the law. When the law doesn’t work both ways, and government is unaccountable to the laws it passes, there is no reason for any to abide…
What CONSTITUTION?
Yeah news flash we do not buy guns from the federal government!
This isn’t Mexico, yet!
Quit calling that lying, cheating, pandering, thieving, con artist, psychopathic control freak “president”. He IS NOT the PRESIDENT. They cheated their way in and cheats don’t get to be called anything but CHEATS. If you want to call him something besides his name, call him what he is…CHAIRMAN XIDEN of the CCP.
Pretends-ident Biden, White House resident Dementia Joe, pedo joe, Slimeden, the puppet… he has all sorts of accurate titles, but “president” is not one of them.
I’m partial to Traitor Joe
I call the ILLEGITIMATE whitehouse OCCUPIER; pRESIDENT Buythem.
Joe sent Jill up the hill, to fetch a pail 0f water. When she came back down, she was wearing a frown, cuz Joe was washing their daughter.
Ban useless career politicians who have spent countless years stealing from the American taxpayers
They don’t need to steal from the American slave taxpayers…
Lead will be the most precious metal.
Along with brass.
Ban the NFA GCA Brady Bill and any other Constitutional infringements and start by getting rid of the most common gun registry form being the 4473. the moment you start filling out the 4473, it is digitally copied and put on file, for the ATF to use at their leisure
The dealer retains all 4473’s.until they go out of business. We were required to keep them for 20 years. Our “leader to fear” changed that by executive order. Now 4473’s must be kept “forever” – at least later they get their hands on them. Then they get scanned to ocr so they can be digitized. They already have billions of firearms transactions digitally.And thats against the law. What’s happening about that? The exception to all the above is if the FFL sends runs check ditally. Then it’s immediately in their files.
Until there is a unexplained fire in the file storage area.
It wasn’t an executive order. It was in the rule the FBATFE just finalized on receivers that redefined rifle, firearm, suppressor, etc, and tried to make 80% into legally recognized firearms. That rule also changed the 20 year rule to “keep the records forever”, and allows FFL’s (encourages them) to give digital copies to FBATFE while still in business so they don’t need to store the paper. How nice of them (sarcasm). Just a scam to make a registry faster. And a crime for which all involved should rot in prison.
Keep poking the bear, you dumbasses!
They could define what they mean by an assault weapon. The problem in that would be that they would have to be specific about what they are trying to ban. It wouldn’t look good to say honestly that the weapons they want to ban are all semi-automatic rifles that use removable magazines and that have an appearance that incidentally, yet insignificantly, resembles a military rifle.
In political discourse they will always remain as vague as possible to (attempt to) avoid triggering more opposition and so that supporters can imagine whatever they think is appropriate. Meanwhile in legislation they will be as vague and broad as they possibly can. Most recent proposals have been what you said, all semi-auto rifles or shotguns which accept removable magazines. They don’t want to specify any other criteria as that would narrow their ban, however when forced to they just say “plus one characteristic from following list.” That list is quite broad including thumbhole stocks, adjustable stocks, pistol grip below… Read more »
America needs our second amendment, what we don’t need is an ilegitiment clownshow in the oval office dictating too us and trying too steal our God given rights . FJB
What’s the truth? Truth is that you do not need to totally disarm the general public, to EFFECTIVELY disarm the general public. Biden is run by Obama and Soros. Soros works with Klaus Schwab and EU globalists. They have a global plan, and have infiltrated governments around the world to achieve their agenda. Their agenda REQUIRES all citizens be disarmed, as they intend to mandate things that an effectively armed citizenry would never tolerate. Biden needs to ban “assault weapons” to effectively disarm American Citizens . . . once effectively disarmed, they can do what they want to us, by… Read more »
While it seems like that, I’ve never seen real proof.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report shows more intentional murders are committed by criminals using knives, fists, and blunt objects than by rifles of any kind, not just MSRs like the AR-15
Problem is, AR/AK-type rifles can kill big numbers at once. This colors the news reporting and therefore, the public perception.
No, the News reporting colors the killings. It plays in the headlines for weeks, months & even years. Do you really believe they care who got shot or killed ? That’s why they sell military equipment around the world. lol
I’ve a got a comment directly for the ammoland editors… It is time to eliminate your comments section… You have some wackos on here bullying people and chasing off, not only readers, but donors… Just get rid of it altogether… This is a magnet for sophisticated antigun propaganda, etc…
The experience here would go from negative to positive very quickly as your articles are generally enlightened and informative. There is no reason to have something that allows sociopathic bullies and propagandists to have a voice here.
Disagree. Just ignore the impotent, whiney, lying socialist gun grabbers… like the rest of us do
I completely disagree Big Red and I oppose your efforts to silence readers.
The vast majority of readers/posters here appear to be reasonably intelligent and able to discern fact from fiction. Arizona makes an excellent point. Just ignore the idjits.
If you don’t like free speach you must appose gun rights also ? Try a site that approves of your censorship . Ammoland promotes freedom and rights for all to voice thier opinion unless its threats of violence.
Then you should remain silent.
Like my father told me once, “sometimes you have to listen to stupid people, just so you can confirm that you’re not stupid”