On Thursday, President Joe Biden vowed to ban “assault weapons” if Democrats retain control of Congress after the midterm elections in November. On Sunday night, Biden doubled down on his vow.
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During a Democratic National Committee (DNC) Grassroots Rally in Rockville, Md., Biden said he’s “determined to ban assault weapons in this country.”
“We took on the NRA, and we beat them. 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,” Biden said.
Biden said he banned “assault weapons” before, referring to the 1994 “assault weapons” ban, which he spearheaded during his career as a Senator. When the ban expired 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, according to a copy of the report viewed by The Washington Times at the time.
The report also noted that “assault weapons” were “rarely used in gun crimes before the ban.”
“Should it be renewed, the ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement,” the report continued, later stating, “The ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”
FactCheck.org also maintains that the ban’s impact is unclear.
Biden doubled down on his vow to ban “assault weapons” in a tweet on Sunday night.
“If we elect more Democrats to the Senate and keep the House Democratic, imagine the possibilities,” Biden said in the tweet. “We’ll ban assault weapons, saving countless lives.”
During his speech last week, Biden asserted that he would facilitate the “assault weapons” ban for “those families in Buffalo, Uvalde, Newtown, El Paso, Parkland, Charleston, Las Vegas, Orlando.”
“We’re going to do it for all our kids gunned down on our streets every single day — every day that never make the national news. Folks, we’re going to do it for your kids who are learning how to read and write in school instead of learning how to duck and cover,” Biden continued. “So this November — this November, you 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.”
In July, the House of Representatives voted to pass sweeping “assault weapons” ban legislation in a narrow 217-213 vote, which aims to “regulate assault weapons” by banning the sale, manufacture, or transfer of a wide range of rifles commonly used by Americans. The bill is unlikely to pass the Senate.
