President-elect Joe Biden promised to “defeat” the National Rifle Association last week in a statement on the 10th anniversary of the assassination attempt on former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords in Arizona.
In a statement on the Biden-Harris transition website, the president-elect called the 2011 attack that left six individuals dead and several others wounded, including the former congresswoman, senseless and brutal, adding that “too many families have known the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence” in the decade since.
He continued, “As President, I pledge to continue to work together with Congresswoman Giffords, and with survivors, families, and advocates across the country, to defeat the NRA and end the epidemic of gun violence in America.”
The president-elect doubled down on his remarks about the NRA, again vowing to defeat the pro-Second Amendment group in a post on Twitter.
“[Gabby Giffords] Your perseverance and immeasurable courage continue to inspire me and millions of others. I pledge to continue to work with you — and with survivors, families, and advocates across the country — to defeat the NRA and end our epidemic of gun violence,” the president-elect tweeted.
The National Rifle Association responded to the call for their defeat on Twitter, advising gun owners to “stay vigilant” as the Biden administration prepares to push gun control measure.
“On Friday, Biden pledged to DEFEAT THE NRA. Biden wants to ban our semi-auto rifles, tax our guns/mags & more,” the NRA tweeted. “He knows the only thing standing in his way to DISMANTLE THE 2ND AMENDMENT is NRA.”
“Gun owners must stay vigilant & be engaged in elections and the legislative process,” the tweet continued.
Last year, Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he supports a federal gun buyback program as a way of getting weapons off the streets. Biden also said he supports universal background checks, adding that ‘assault weapons’ “should be illegal. Period.”
When asked about gun owners’ concerns that he would take away people’s firearms, Biden said, “Bingo! You’re right if you have an assault weapon.”
“Right now, there’s no legal way that I’m aware of where you could deny the right if they had legally purchased them,” Biden told CNN. “But we can, in fact, make a major effort to get them off the street and out of the possession of people.”
Biden seeks to reclassify the Modern Sporting Rifle to fall under the 1934 National Firearms Act so guns like the AR15 are treated the same as short-barrel rifles and machine guns.
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the move would force owners to be put on a federal list, submit fingerprints, photos, notify law enforcement officers and wait over nine months for approval, as well as pay a $200 tax.
Biden also wants to reduce stockpiling of weapons, restricting the number of firearms an American can purchase per month to one, the Biden-Harris website stated.
The NRA has previously commented on Biden’s calls for radical gun control, tweeting, “If Joe Biden wins, he will destroy our Second Amendment, and America will become unrecognizable.”
