U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Joe Biden is doubling down on his threat to ban so-called “assault weapons”—a term even the Associated Press advises against using—and the key to getting this done, according to a weekend tweet, is to “elect more Democrats to the Senate and keep the House Democratic.”
Biden was at a Democratic National Committee grassroots rally in Maryland, where he told the audience, “We just passed the first significant gun safety legislation in 30 years in this country. And I promise you, we’re not stopping here. I’m determined to ban assault weapons in this country.”
However, according to a report in American Military News, when Biden led the effort in 1994 to pass a ten-year ban on semi-auto rifles and standard capacity magazines, the results were inconclusive as to whether the ten-year prohibition actually accomplished anything. The story referred to a 2004 report in the Washington Times, which had obtained a then-unreleased copy of a report by the Department of Justice National Institute of Justice. That report stated, “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence.”
And according to a 2021 report by FactCheck.org, “President Joe Biden claims the 10-year assault weapons ban that he helped shepherd through the Senate as part of the 1994 crime bill ‘brought down these mass killings.’ But the raw numbers, when adjusted for population and other factors, aren’t so clear on that.”
In Maryland, Biden pledged, “Will we be a nation of unity, of hope, of optimism, not a nation of violence, anger, hatred, and division.”
Yet he immediately promised to make political war on essentially one-third of the population because they are gun owners. Millions of them own modern semi-auto rifles, which Biden has vowed to ban during his presidency. He has never backed away from that position, and he is making it clear if Democrats retain control of Capitol Hill, he intends to make that one of his legacy accomplishments.
If we elect more Democrats to the Senate and keep the House Democratic, imagine the possibilities.
We’ll codify Roe v. Wade, protecting a woman’s right to choose.
We’ll ban assault weapons, saving countless lives.
We’ll protect voting rights.
Let’s get it done. pic.twitter.com/QpVj0GzYVP
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 28, 2022
However, there may be political and judicial storm clouds on his horizon. In late June, a week after handing down the landmark ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court granted certiorari (review) to four significant Second Amendment cases including a case from Maryland known as Dominic Bianchi et al. v. Brian E. Frosh et al., led by the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The case challenges the Maryland ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
The court vacated the original ruling by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and remanded it back for reconsideration “with instructions that it apply the justices’ broad interpretation of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms,” according to the Maryland Daily Record. Because the Supreme Court granted certiorari, it’s a certainty that if the case comes back, the court will hear arguments and then hand down an opinion whether such firearms are protected by the Second Amendment.
It would be impossible to ban a type of firearm protected by the Second Amendment.
In Maryland, Biden told his audience, “This November, we have to ask every candidate, ‘are you for banning assault weapons or not?’ and If you’re not, we’re not going to vote for you. Period.”
Grassroots gun rights activists look at the issue differently. Candidates who do support a ban on semi-auto rifles are the ones to vote against in November. One good way to identify those individuals is whether they are identified as “gun sense candidates” by the various lobbying groups, as noted in GUNS Magazine.
Biden and other anti-gunners are pulling out all the stops.
On Sept. 15, according to The Guardian, Biden is hosting a White House “summit…aimed at combating hate-fueled violence.” High on the agenda of this “United We Stand” event is so-called “gun violence.”
The Guardian report says Biden “will deliver a keynote speech at the gathering, which the White House says will include civil rights groups, faith leaders, business executives, law enforcement, gun violence prevention advocates, former members of violent hate groups, the victims of extremist violence and cultural figures.” Noticeably absent from that list are representatives from the firearms industry and gun rights organizations.
The Federalist reports two new studies suggesting white people own guns and oppose gun control legislation because they are racists.
The political rhetoric is clearly ramping up in preparation for what is likely to be a bare-knuckles battle over control of Congress, which will be the only way to derail Biden’s gun control agenda. If Democrats are still in charge after November, Biden evidently figures there will be nothing stopping him.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
