Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden vowed on his campaign website to ban online gun and ammo sales, limit gun sales, ban “assault weapons,” force gun owners into buybacks or registration, and various other restrictions.
Biden has expressed his anti-gun ideas, but his website spells out the specific measures he intends to take if he wins the election and assumes the presidency, which he describes as “constitutional, common-sense gun safety policies.”
“Biden will enact legislation to once again ban assault weapons,” Biden’s website says. “While working to pass this legislation, Biden will also use his executive authority to ban the importation of assault weapons.”
Biden’s campaign website does not describe expand on his definition of “assault weapon.” The website uses the National Firearms Act’s ban of machine guns, silencers, and short barreled rifles without registration and the relatively low usage of these weapons in crimes as an example for pursuing “legislation to regulate possession of existing assault weapons”
The proposed measure is part of Biden’s vow to “get weapons of war off our streets.” Although his website doesn’t define “weapon of war,” a tweet he made in February referred to AR-15 rifles as “weapons of war.”
“No one needs an AR-15. Period. We have to get these weapons of war out of our communities,” Biden tweeted at the time.
No one needs an AR-15. Period. We have to get these weapons of war out of our communities.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 15, 2020
Biden’s plan for getting “assault weapons or high-capacity magazines” out of gunowners’ hands is to force them into two options: “sell the weapons to the government, or register them under the National Firearms Act,” his website says.
Biden’s campaign website also vows to ban all online sales of guns, gun parts, and ammunition. He also plans to restrict gun purchases to one per month to “reduce the stockpiling of firearms.”
Biden also plans to strip protections from gun manufacturers, paving way for them to be held civilly liable when guns they manufacture are used in a crime. However, some instances of this began when the Supreme Court allowed victims’ families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre to sue gunmaker Remington. The company manufactured the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle that Adam Lanza used in the massacre to kill 26, and the families allege that Remington bears responsibility due to marketing the rifle.
Biden would also “incentivize” local governments to enact “red flag” gun confiscation laws by offering funding and technical assistance to governments that implement such laws. He also lists his vow to expand background checks and close alleged loopholes, and expand incentives for gun licensing programs.
