President Joe Biden once again took aim at law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment rights, calling for an outright ban on “assault weapons,” high capacity magazines and more during a speech Thursday evening.
“We need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. And if we can’t ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21,” Biden said.
The president then demanded strengthened background checks, gun storage laws, and “red flag” gun confiscation laws. He also called for lawmakers to “repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability,” and referred to all of his suggests as “rational, common sense measures.”
Biden asserted that lawmakers should “at least” raise the age to purchase an “assault weapon” to 21, and pushed back on arguments that such a move wouldn’t make sense because Americans can enter the military and fire similar weapons at age 18.
“If we can’t ban assault weapons, as we should, we must at least raise the age to be able to purchase one to 21,” Biden said. “Look, I know some folks will say 18-year-olds can serve in the military and fire those weapons, but that’s with training and supervision by the best trained experts in the world. Don’t tell me raising the age won’t make a difference.”
Biden also once again claimed that the 1994 “assault weapons” ban worked to reduce mass shootings. However, in 2004, the Department of Justice National Institute of Justice issued a report stating that the ban did not actually reduce crime.
“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,” the report stated.
During his speech, Biden frequently referenced the tragic Uvalde, Texas, school shooting where 19 children and 2 teachers were fatally shot. While Biden had numerous gun control proposals, he did not make any recommendations on securing America’s schools.
Biden did, however, call attention to the midterm elections this fall.
“We can’t fail the American people again,” the president said after criticizing the Republican response to gun control. “I’ve been in this fight for a long time. I know how hard it is. But I’ll never give up. If Congress fails, I believe this time a majority of the American people won’t give up either. I believe the majority of you will act to turn your outrage into making this issue central to your vote.”
