Ban on 'ghost pistols' and assault weapons: Biden responded harshly to mass shootings
US President Joe Biden on Thursday, April 8, announced a series of executive measures and legislative proposals on arms control. He argued that gun violence was a crisis and that the administration’s actions were consistent with Second Amendment rights (gun ownership). Writes about it Fox News.
The administration is committed to "confronting not just the gun crisis, but the public health crisis," Biden said in his speech. He was supported by Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Nothing I am about to recommend would in any way violate the Second Amendment,” Biden stressed.
Then he added: “But no amendment to the Constitution is absolute. From the very beginning, you could not own any weapon that you wanted to own. There was a Second Amendment from the beginning, but only a few people were not allowed to have weapons. So the idea that some of the things we recommend are contrary to the Constitution is just weird. "
Several prominent gun control activists attended, including Brady United President Chris Brown, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, and Fred Guttenberg.
Biden will ask the Department of Justice (DOJ) to propose within a month a rule outlawing the use of "ghost weapons," meaning "kits" that people can legally buy to assemble a valid firearm without a serial number.
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Biden is asking, among other things, for: the Justice Department to propose actions within 60 days to “intervene in community violence”; publish proposals for red flag legislation; the presidential administration to release a report on illegal arms trafficking.
The head of state officially announced David Chipman as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
A senior administration official said Chipman will respect the Second Amendment as long as he enforces gun laws.
“I have seen first-hand what a bullet can do to the human body, and I have spent my entire career fighting against this violence and for sensible gun safety measures,” Harris said.
"What are we waiting for? We've had more tragedies than we can handle,” she said. — Solutions exist, people want real action. Therefore, all that remains is the will and courage to act.”
The Biden administration is expected to support congressional arms control proposals.
“No more prayers, time to act,” Biden said. “I believe the Senate should immediately pass the three House-passed bills to close loopholes that allow gun buyers to bypass background checks.”
He insists on two firearms control laws that go even further.
“We must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country,” Biden said. The President is convinced that there is “no reason” for a person to need a weapon that can hold 100 rounds of ammunition.
“We must also strip gun manufacturers of the immunity they receive from Congress,” Biden said, referring to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). Note that this law prohibits gun manufacturers from being sued for crimes committed with guns they legally sell.
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“This is the only organization that is not being sued,” he continued.
Some of Biden's assertions during the press conference are regularly challenged by Republicans, in particular the fact that weapons manufacturers should be sued, and background checks should be introduced at arms exhibitions.
Indeed, the PLCAA only protects against claims for "harm caused solely by criminal or illegal abuse of firearms or ammunition." This is not taken into account, for example, if the weapon is defective or if it was deliberately transferred to a person who is prohibited from owning it.
In addition, the "loophole at arms exhibitions" is not really related to arms exhibitions. All federal licensed commercial dealers at gun shows or other locations must conduct background checks. But federal law allows a small number of nonprofit vendors who don't need to be licensed to sell weapons without background checks. These sales sometimes happen at gun shows.
Meanwhile, Republicans have questioned Biden's agenda that goes further than he previously announced.
“By nominating anti-gun Merrick Garland as attorney general and David Chipman, a former senior official of the leading gun control lobby, to head the ATF, Biden has made clear that his goals are aimed at restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners while ignoring criminals and by abandoning significant measures that will actually keep Americans safe,” the National Rifle Association (NRA) said in a statement.
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“In addition, proposals announced by Biden could require law-abiding citizens to surrender their legal property and allow states to expand gun confiscation orders. The NRA will fight this appointment and the executive branch's ill-conceived actions,” the NRA said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy added: “President Biden plans to announce his attempts to trample on our constitutional rights. He violates the rights of law-abiding citizens. We will not tolerate this. "
Senator Ted Cruz said: “The answer is not to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens under the Second Amendment. The answer is to chase down violent criminals and crash down on them like a ton of bricks. "
Attorney General Merrick Garland also spoke on this matter. He believes that control over firearms is necessary to prevent further "tragedy" associated with their use.
“We stand here today not in the midst of a tragedy, but in the midst of an ongoing tragedy,” Garland said.
Brady United, one of the most influential firearms control groups in the United States, declared Biden and Harris "the most powerful gun safety players in history."
“President Biden's actions are historic and will have an immediate impact. This is a tangible and actionable policy that will save lives,” Brown commented on the president’s actions.
As ForumDaily wrote earlier:
- Four people, including a child, were killed in shelling of an office complex in Orange (California). The incident took place on March 31st.
- Eight people, including six women from Asian countries, were shot dead as a result a series of attacks on three spas in the USA in the state of Georgia... A 21-year-old suspect in all three attacks has been detained.
- Ten people, including a policeman, were killed on 22 March after an armed criminal opened fire in a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.
- According to charges of a gruesome crime, conceived two months before it was committed, two brothers shot and killed four family members at their home in Texas before killing themselves.
- A former prisoner from Brooklyn turned his 9-year-old daughter's birthday into a carnage. Joseph McCrimins, armed with two pistols, silently executed his girlfriend and her two daughters in a Brooklyn apartmentand her 9-year-old daughter hid in a closet in a blood-soaked home and dialed 911 to ask for help.
- Indianapolis Indiana Coronavirus Aid Check a man killed 4 people, injured one person and stole the child.
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