President Joe Biden suggested at a CNN town hall on Wednesday night he is “continuing to push to eliminate the sale of” a “weapon that can have the ability to fire 20” or more rounds, “whether it’s a 9 MM pistol or…rifle.”
Biden voices commitment to banning the sale of guns capable of firing multiple rounds
President Joe Biden on Wednesday night’s CNN town hall commended himself for, during his political career, passing legislation against assault weapons, the Daily Wire reported. Biden has previously implied that there is “no need” for anyone to have “a magazine” with “more than ten rounds in it.”
“I’m the only guy that ever got — passed legislation when I was a senator – to make sure we eliminated assault weapons,” Biden said. “The idea you need a weapon that can have the ability to fire 20, 30, 40, 50, 120 shots from that weapon, whether it’s a, whether it’s a 9mm pistol or whether it’s a rifle, is ridiculous.”
“I’m continuing to push to eliminate the sale of those things, but I’m not likely to get that done in the near term,” Biden added.
In February 2020, Biden spoke out about a “rational policy” on guns in the early days of his presidency, saying it was one ensuring “you cannot have 20, 30, 40, 50 clips in a weapon.”
“I now have over 58% of the NRA members acknowledging that you cannot own an assault weapon,” Biden claimed at the time. “There is no need for it. You can’t have a magazine that is more than ten rounds in it.”
Biden addresses gun violence
Host Don Lemon brought up the subject of gun violence, asking: “So, how will you address gun violence, from a federal point of view, to bring about change and make our local cities safer?”
“Actually, crime is down; gun violence and murder rates are up,” Biden offered statistics.
“Here’s what I’ve done: The people who are using those weapons are acquiring them illegally — illegally,” Biden continued. “And so what happens is, I’ve gotten ATF — Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms — I have them increase their budget and increase their capacity, along with the Justice Department, to go after the gun shops that are not abiding by the law of doing background checks…”
“all across the country. And it’s not because the gun shops in the cities are selling these guns. They are either shadow gun dealers and gun shops that are not abiding by the law,” Biden said. “So, we’re going to do major investigations and shut those guys down and put some of them in jail and — for what they’re doing: selling these weapons.”
Biden added: “There’s also a thing called “ghost guns” that are being sold now and being used.”
