OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A leading Senate Democrat handed President Joe Biden some bad news regarding the latter’s new call for a ban on “semi-automatic” firearms. In remarks to a reporter on Thanksgiving Day, Biden lashed out at all Americans who own “semi-automatic” guns, which, according to published data, amount to more than half of all firearms in private hands.
During a press event in Nantucket, Mass., Biden specifically referenced the shooting in Colorado Springs, Colo., where a self-described “non-binary” gunman killed five patrons and wounded nearly 20 others at Club Q, a hot spot for the gay and lesbian community.
“The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick,” Biden said. “Just sick. It has no socially redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.”
Another reporter went on to ask the president if he thought he could make any progress on new gun control laws when Republicans take control of the House in January, responding that he would have to take stock of votes first.
“I’m going to try,” Biden said. “I’m going to try to get rid of assault weapons.”
But on Sunday, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, one of Biden’s biggest allies in the chamber, expressed doubts that the Democrat-controlled lame-duck Congress could pass such legislation.
“He wants to pass a so-called assault weapons ban in this lame-duck next month. You know the math on how difficult that is better than most people. You have been working on this for a long time. Is there any path to getting that done,” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Murphy, who responded with “probably not.”
“But let’s see if we can try to get that number as close to 60 as possible. If we don’t have the votes, then we will talk to Senator Schumer and maybe come back next year with maybe an additional senator and see if we can do better,” he offered before appearing to threaten every so-called “Second Amendment Sanctuary State” with defunding police.
He said, “we have to have a conversation about whether we can continue to fund law enforcement” in counties and states which have declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries.”
“Do we want to continue to supply funding to law enforcement in counties that refuse to implement state and federal gun laws?” he said.
WATCH:
Democrat Senator Chris Murphy says "we have to have a conversation about whether we can continue to fund law enforcement" in counties and states which have declared themselves "Second Amendment sanctuaries." pic.twitter.com/TxFbuAulDa
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 27, 2022
The president was blasted over his remarks for his overly generalized statement regarding firearms and the tens of millions of Americans who own them.
“So essentially all guns are on the Big Guy’s chopping block,” Hollywood actor James Woods tweeted.
So essentially all guns are on the Big Guy’s chopping block. https://t.co/EwZlxZROJy
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) November 25, 2022
“Wow. Are there any guns Biden would not ban?” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton noted on Twitter.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said that Biden was “maligning most gun owners” and added that Americans rejected recent gun control proposals floated by outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Americans rejected Pelosi’s gun control schemes in the mid terms, yet here is Biden saying he wants to ban modern firearms, and maligning most gun owners. https://t.co/8cXyftBx8j
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 24, 2022
Missouri’s 4th congressional district U.S. Representative-elect Mark Alford called Biden’s stance on gun laws “sheer ignorance,” going on to cite an article noting that semi-automatic weapons make up 50 percent of all gun sales in America.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told Newsmax TV host Carl Higbie: “How do you turn Thanksgiving holiday into an attack on the Second Amendment? Well this administration can do that at any time. This is one of their big goals.
“I was pretty upset that they would try to distract from the very special day to an attack on our rights, but that’s par for the course for the Biden administration,” the representative said.
Serving up sheer ignorance for Thanksgiving!! @POTUS now wants to ban ALL semiautomatic weapons. “The idea that we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick” Semiautomatics make up 50% of ALL gun sales in America. https://t.co/181vuX0sQg @NRA
— Mark Alford 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@markalfordkc) November 24, 2022
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court handed strengthened the Second Amendment’s individual right to keep and bear arms by striking down a concealed carry law in New York state that a majority of justices viewed as unconstitutionally restrictive. And in October, the Biden administration lost another case in federal court regarding the right.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin in Charleston, W. Va., ruled that a federal ban on guns without a serial number or with a serial number removed is unconstitutional in the first such ruling since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld broader gun rights in a June ruling.
Goodwin ruled on Wednesday that the ban was inconsistent with the United States’ “historical tradition of firearm regulation,” which is a new standard for deciding Second Amendment cases that the Supreme Court laid out over the summer, Reuters reported.
