Joe Biden on Gun Control: Understanding Biden's 2020 Platform and the Second Amendment

“You don't need an AR-15. It's harder to aim, it's harder to use, and in fact, you don't need 30 rounds to protect yourself.”

The one-two punch of the Wuhan Coronavirus explosion, and the civil unrest of early 2020, led to an unprecedented growth in firearms ownership in America. All told, there were about two million firearms sold in the month of March 2020 alone. Between March and July, an additional three million were sold, with about half of those happening in the month of June.

Ammunition sales have similarly spiked, with record sales occurring on this website. However, gun owners don’t need a report to know that there has been a massive surge in demand for ammunition. They need only go down to their local gun store and see that all of the most common rounds are in short supply, sold out or being rationed at the point of sale.

But it’s not just guns and ammo. There has also been a significant increase in the number of Americans obtaining their concealed carry weapons permit and packing on a daily basis. Forbes magazine estimates that 20 million Americans are now carrying as part of their everyday life.

The flipside of this is that Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign was perhaps the most radically anti-Second Amendment campaign on record. President Biden is very proud of his role in spiriting the 1994 gun ban into passage. And throughout his time as president, we will likely see an expansion of the power of the federal government and attacks on the rights of Americans that will not be restricted to the ownership of firearms. As president, Biden will resume the Obama-era attacks on the suburbs ended by President Trump, give citizenship (and voting rights) to nearly 30 million illegal aliens and use the Federal Reserve to address a “racial wealth gap.”

However, Biden’s desire to erode the Second Amendment deserves special attention. It is a radical agenda that will gut the right to bear arms in this country. Does that sound like bluster and hyperbole? It’s not.

Joe Biden’s Record: What He Says vs. What He’s Done

There are two ways to determine how President Joe Biden will govern with regard to the Second Amendment: What he says and what he has done. Since he was out of government between his time as VP and becoming president, we'll start with his history as a legislator and as Vice President of the United States.

Joe Biden has a very long record of being anti-Second Amendment. He voted for the 1986 Firearms Owners Protection Act, which was primarily a series of gimmes to gun grabbers in exchange for getting the ATF to leave law-abiding gun owners alone. If you’ve ever wanted to own an M-16, but can’t afford one because of the high price of the related tax stamp, you can thank Joe Biden for that.

Biden was also instrumental in the passage of the Brady Bill. This law, until the creation of the NICS background check system, provided for a five-day waiting period to purchase a firearm. He brags about his role in passing this bill into law on his campaign website, saying “In 1994, Biden – along with Senator Dianne Feinstein – secured the passage of 10-year bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. As president, Joe Biden will defeat the NRA again.”

Far more concerning, however, is that, as a Senator, Joe Biden literally wrote the bill that banned so-called “assault weapons” in the United States for 20 years. This assault weapons ban defined “assault weapons” in an extremely broad sense. Under the law, the definitions of an assault weapon were as follows:

Rifles:

• Flash suppressors or barrels threaded for them
• Pistol grips
• Folding and telescopic stocks
• Bayonet mounts
• Grenade launchers

Pistols:

• Semi-automatic versions of any automatic firearm
• An unloaded weight of over 50 ounces
• Threaded barrels designed to accommodate flash suppressors, barrel extenders, suppressors and handgrips
• Barrel shrouds

Shotguns:

• Pistol grips
• Detachable magazines
• Folding and telescopic stocks

The law likewise targeted a number of specific firearms that were widely popular with American gun owners. This included the Colt AR-15, the INTRATEC TEC-9 (which were popular with the Roof Koreans who defended Koreatown during the LA riots of 1994) and the Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil.

Not only were most of these restrictions unconstitutional, they were also largely useless. Many gun companies continued manufacturing virtually identical versions of firearms that had been banned by the law, removing only minor cosmetic features to get themselves into compliance. Numerous studies found that there was virtually no impact on violent crime throughout the United States.

If we are being generous, this can be seen as a misguided attempt to curb urban violent crime. If we are being more cynical, it was little more than a power grab.

The law expired on September 13, 2004. There have been several attempts to reintroduce the law, all of which have been unsuccessful.

Finally, we should touch on the role of Joe Biden as a point man for selling the Waco siege to the American public. He stated that there was no “improper motive or intent on the part of law enforcement.” In the same statement, he singled out the ATF and the FBI for praise, stating that they had an “excellent overall record.” What’s more, he was a major proponent of the theory that the Branch Davidians at Waco committed suicide by lighting fire to their own home, a theory with slim evidence at best.

Biden’s statements about Waco are of particular importance when coupled with his aggressive anti-Second Amendment platform. This is a man who believes firmly that the ATF did nothing intentionally wrong at Waco. He has a great deal of trust in federal law enforcement that borders on naivete if we are being generous. It is not outlandish to think that he would use the full militarized might of the ATF against anyone who presented resistance against federal gun registration and confiscation.

Joe Biden’s 2020 Platform

For most of his political career, Joe Biden has operated as a sensible centrist within the Democratic Party. While one can argue that his positions are outside of conservatism, they have certainly not historically been outside the mainstream of American political thought. However, Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign was a whole different animal.

Joe Biden ran for president on a highly radical platform. There are a number of reasons why the former personal envoy of the credit card industry, the man who made it impossible to discharge student loans in bankruptcy, has pivoted toward appealing to the woke crowd. The reasons are unimportant, however. We can definitively say, without speculation as to motive, that Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign was perhaps the most radical political campaign in modern American history. Nowhere is this more clear than on the subject of firearms.

Why Language Matters

The official website for Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign defines gun violence as a “public health epidemic.” This might sound like boilerplate, but in fact it is language designed to lay the groundwork for moving firearms restrictions under the purview of the FDA. This alphabet organization has broad leeway to ban, tax and regulate anything deemed a danger to public health.

He also cites a commonly used weasel statistic to advocate for such: that 40,000 Americans die from firearms-related injuries every year. This includes every firearms-related death – suicides, accidental discharges, shootouts between gangland figures where no innocent bystander is killed, self-defense actions. And while any death is certainly tragic, this is simply not what anyone means when they talk about “gun violence.”

All told, there were 14,542 gun homicides in 2017, less than half of the statistic that Biden cites in his platform. This doesn’t even crack the top 10 of causes of death in the United States, according to the CDC. More Americans died of septicemia in 2017 than gun homicides, yet there is no public health crusade against this.

Removing Protections for Gun Manufacturers

In a related campaign promise, Biden says that he will “hold gun manufacturers accountable” for the use of their products. This means that the families of shooting victims will be able to file civil suits against gun manufacturers to obtain damages related to the misuse of their products in crimes. This is an attempt at corporate gun control through the backdoor. When facing such liability, gun manufacturers will be inundated with frivolous lawsuits that will cause them to either go out of business or discontinue their civilian lines entirely. Biden has previously voted to repeal these protections, which is another point he brags about on his website:

“In 2005, then-Senator Biden voted against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, but gun manufacturers successfully lobbied Congress to secure its passage. This law protects these manufacturers from being held civilly liable for their products – a protection granted to no other industry. Biden will prioritize repealing this protection.”

Banning “Assault Weapons” by Executive Order

Even if President Joe Biden cannot get a new “assault weapons” ban to be passed, he plans to use an executive order to ban the importation of such weapons into the United States. His campaign website boasts that he will accomplish this “while working to pass this legislation… using his executive authority.” This would end the market for a number of lower-cost imports into the United States, restricting the Second Amendment rights of many low-income Americans who cannot afford high-priced domestic options. He also states that any new gun ban would be informed by the last one, meaning that it would be far more sweeping and ban a far greater number of weapons features than the 1994 bill.

Regulating Existing “Assault Weapons”

But what about the AR-15 you already purchased? Biden plans to use the National Firearms Act to regulate possession of these firearms. His language on his website is vague and this is probably intentional. “Regulate” can mean just about anything, allowing him to either do something minor and claim victory or to enact sweeping changes without the hurdle of legislative approval.

When it comes to buybacks, his language becomes more clear: Those who now own “assault weapons” – whatever that means, either under newly passed legislation or executive fiat – will have to either sell them back to the government or register them with the ATF under the National Firearms Act:

“As president, Biden will pursue legislation to regulate possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act.“

Registration, of course, will be a prelude to confiscating these arms, either under the Biden Administration or future administrations even more hostile toward the Second Amendment. He would also seek to limit the number of firearms a person can purchase in a single month to one and close the so-called “gun show loophole.”

Using Mental Health to Ban Firearms Ownership

This should all be alarming to you. But unfortunately, it gets much worse. The Biden Administration will likely attempt to prevent Americans from owning firearms on the basis of “mental health” reasons. While this might sound reasonable (who wants a paranoid schizophrenic with a cache of AR-15s?), it is, in fact, a very troubling development. There are millions of Americans seeking treatment for anything from depression to anxiety. Oftentimes this isn’t representative of any underlying medical condition. People are simply having a hard time and reaching out for a little help – precisely what they are supposed to do.

This initially will only exclude people that have been adjudicated by the Social Security Administration as being unfit to manage their own affairs. But it is extremely unlikely that this will not be quickly expanded.

Closing the “Loopholes”

President Biden also seeks to close a number of “loopholes” in the law that aren’t actually loopholes at all, such as:

• The “Hate Crime” Loophole: This would deprive the right to bear arms from anyone who has received a politically motivated “hate crimes” enhancement to a misdemeanor – potentially making petty crimes like vandalism a pretext for depriving Americans of their Constitutional rights anytime an overzealous left-wing prosecutor decided to pursue a “hate crimes” enhancement. Please note that flags such as the Betsy Ross flag and the Gadsden flag have become labeled as “white supremacist” images in recent years, so don’t think you need to be wearing a swastika armband to receive such an enhancement.
• The Charleston Loophole: This alleged “loophole” allows people to purchase a firearm if they have not received authorization to do so under the NICS system in three business days. Biden seeks to extend this to ten business days – effectively making Americans wait up to two weeks to purchase firearms.
• The “Fugitive From Justice” Loophole: Biden wants to remove the right to keep and bear arms from 500,000 Americans who were declared by the Trump Administration to not actually be “fugitives from justice.”

As we can see, none of the above are actually “loopholes.” They are simply laws that President Biden and his constituents do not care for. We should all be troubled by the Biden Administration working within legitimate legislative channels to roll back the rights of our fellow citizens. However, Biden isn’t even promising to do that: He plans to erode and cripple American Second Amendment rights through executive fiat.

Banning Online Sales

Get your ammunition and firearms online? Not under the Biden Administration. Beyond ammo and guns, Biden seeks to ban the online purchase of gun “kits,” such as 85 percent lowers or even parts for your weapons:

“Biden will enact legislation to prohibit all online sales of firearms, ammunition, kits, and gun parts.”

Those who have exotic or antiquated weapons will have an extremely difficult time finding the parts they need to keep their weapons operational. So-called “ghost guns” will likewise be banned under President Biden.

Gun Confiscation and Licensure Requirements

The Biden platform includes creating a gun confiscation framework overseen by the ATF and the FBI. Ostensibly, this is to remove weapons from the hands of people who are no longer legally allowed to own them, such as felons and those awaiting charges. However, it is important to note that even if this is restricted to removing guns from the hands of felons and those awaiting charges now, that it can easily be used, in tandem with the new gun registration apparatus, to confiscate firearms from law-abiding Americans.

“As president, Biden will direct the FBI and ATF to outline a model relinquishment process, enact any necessary legislation to ensure relinquishment when individuals newly fall under one of the federal prohibitions, and then provide technical and financial assistance to state and local governments to establish effective relinquishment processes on their own."

Biden does not seek a federal “red flag” law, but he does seek to “incentivize the adoption of these laws by giving states funds to implement them.” He also seeks to “incentivize” licensure requirements for Americans to own firearms.

Using Big Tech to Spy on Americans

The Biden Administration wants to spend government time and resources digging up threats on the taxpayer’s dime. He wants to create a “Task Force on Online Harassment and Abuse” to identify the “connection between mass shootings, online harassment, extremism, and violence against women.” This amounts to little more than a politically motivated creation of a committee to partner with Big Tech to snoop on Americans with the aim of depriving them of their Second Amendment rights.

Expanding the ATF and Other Gun Control Tactics

The Biden platform seeks to require all gun manufacturers to eventually manufacture only so-called “smart guns.” He wants to pass a law that would require all gun owners to keep their firearms in a gun safe, dramatically increasing the cost of ownership of firearms. The Biden DOJ would prioritize the prosecution of “straw purchasers” – a stark departure of Obama-era policy where the DOJ worked closely with them, eventually allowing narco-terrorists and Islamic terrorists access to heavy firepower. Local and state law enforcement would be informed whenever someone failed a background check. The State Department would take measures to block code from the Internet that might be used to 3D print a gun in someone’s home. He seeks a far more robust ATF than already exists. Finally, he would prohibit state and local governments from training teachers in how to defend their students with firearms.

Kamala Harris: The Most Anti-Second Amendment VP Ever

Joe Biden’s selection of California Senator Kamala Harris as his Vice Presidential nominee created what the NRA called “the most anti-gun ticket in history.” They also described the ticket as “an existential threat to gun owners.”

Like most gun grabbers, Harris claims that she is not opposed to individual ownership of firearms. However, her record tells a different story: She wrote an amicus brief in District of Columbia vs. Heller, where she stated that the ban on private ownership of handguns did not violate the Second Amendment. What’s more, she has enjoyed endorsements from Gabby Giffords and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

She is in favor of banning a number of commonly used firearms and peripherals, including a magazine limit of 10. While running for president, she promised to use executive orders to confiscate guns from law-abiding Americans if Congress would not pass her extremist anti-Second Amendment agenda.

Perhaps most disturbing about her actual record on gun violence is her support for red flag laws and a massive expansion of the definition of “potential domestic terrorist” to further strip law-abiding citizens of their right to keep and bear arms. During her presidential campaign, she advocated for an additional $2 billion in spending for domestic snooping, ostenisbly with the aim of preventing domestic terrorism.

79 years old when inaugurated, President Biden is already showing signs of severe mental and physical deterioration. That he would live to see the full four years of his term is far from a foregone conclusion, nor is a scenario where the 25th Amendment is used to remove him, replacing him with Kamala Harris.

She is a dangerous woman in a dangerous administration that represents a serious threat to the rights of all Americans.

The bottom line to all of this is that the Biden Administration will work to further erode American Second Amendment protections more than any other before it. It is just one component of a radical agenda that has taken over Biden's policy. Whether or not Biden actually believes any of this and whether or not he has simply had his policies hijacked by more radical forces is besides the point – which is that the Biden Administration will actively pursue police-state measures against law-abiding gun owners in the United States.

If you have a friend who is a new gun owner, who is unaware of the stakes in this administration, we urge you to share this material with them.

Written by

Sam Jacobs