END THE 'EPIDEMIC'
What is Joe Biden’s gun control plan?
PRESIDENT Joe Biden called for tighter gun control laws in the wake of the mass shooting in Colorado on March 22.
On March 22, gunman stormed into a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, , .
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Why is Biden calling on Congress to enact 'commonsense gun law reforms?'
During his 2020 campaign, Biden had to tackle gun violence, including a proposal to ban assault weapons, enforce stricter background checks and end the sale of firearms and ammunition online.
The president spoke out at on March 23 in response to the one day before.
"As president, I’m going to use all the resources at my disposal to keep people safe," Biden said, according to .
He asked the Senate to "immediately pass" two House-passed bills relating to gun violence.
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had previously released a on the third anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.
A shooter opened fire at the high school leaving 14 students and three educators dead on February 14, 2018.
Biden noted in his statement "the Parkland families have taught all of us something profound."
"Time and again, they have showed us how we can turn our grief into purpose – to march, organize, and build a strong, inclusive, and durable movement for change," his statement continued.
At the end of his statement, Biden said his administration "will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call" before calling on Congress to "enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets."
Biden vowed his administration will "take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer."
He ended his statement saying, "We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now."
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What is Biden's gun control plan?
's in the would involve sweeping changes to federal gun laws, which include universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.
It would also close several loopholes in existing legislation and repeal a law that makes it harder to sue gunmakers and retailers when they manufacture or sell guns they should have known would have been used criminally.
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Biden's proposal seeks to:
- Ban the importation, manufacture, and sale of high-capacity magazines. The ban would be designed to prevent gunmakers from flouting the law by making minor changes that don't limit the weapon's lethality.
- Reduce stockpiling of weapons. The Democrat supports legislation limiting the number of guns an individual is legally allowed to by per month to just one.
- Require background checks for all gun sales. Biden would enact a universal background check law with few exceptions like gifts between close family members. This would close the so-called "gun show and online sales loophole" Biden and President narrowed during their administration.
- End online sales of firearms and ammunition. The former vice president plans to enact a law that would ban all online sales of guns, ammo, kits, and gun parts.
- Close the "hate crime" loophole. Biden would prohibit anyone "who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime, or received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor because of hate or bias in its commission" from buying or owning a gun.
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What is Joe Biden's stance on gun control?
Although he's long supported a stricter interpretation of the Second Amendment.
He voted with Democrats to place a 10-year ban on semi-automatic weapons and voted in favor of the Brady handgun bill that same year.
The Brady bill requires a five-day waiting period for gun purchases so that sellers can run a background check.
Biden criticized America's "problem with guns" in an August 2019 op-ed published in the .
"We have a huge problem with guns, assault weapons - military-style firearms designed to fire rapidly - are a threat to our national security, and we should treat them as such," he wrote.
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"Anyone who pretends there's nothing we can do is lying - and holding that view should be disqualifying for anyone seeking to lead our country."
During a primary debate last June, Biden claimed "our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the NRA - the gun manufacturers."
What is the NRA?
The National Rifle Association is a gun rights advocacy group based in the US.
The organization said it had about 5.5million members in 2018.
About one in five US gun owners consider themselves NRA members, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center study.
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What has the NRA said about Joe Biden?
The NRA believes that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris "want to destroy the Second Amendment."
"With only two days left in this election, Biden reiterated his intent to attack law-abiding gun owners if elected," the NRA wrote on its website before the 2020 presidential election.
"While many Americans might expect that our courts would intervene to stop such draconian and unconstitutional policies, Biden has a plan for that too. In numerous appearances, Biden and Harris have both refused to reject the idea of packing the United States Supreme Court to ensure that their unconstitutional polices are not struck down."
What is the Second Amendment?
A supporter of Donald Trump holds a gun in front of the Oregon State Capitol building on November 7, 2020, in Salem, Oregon
The Second Amendment to the Constitution was passed by Congress on September 25, 1789.
It reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
The language of the amendment "has created considerable debate regarding its intended scope," according to the Legal Information Institute at .
"On the one hand, some believe that the Amendment's phrase 'the right of the people to keep and bear Arms' creates an individual constitutional right for citizens of the United States," the LII writes.
" Under this 'individual right theory,' the United States Constitution restricts legislative bodies from prohibiting firearm possession, or at the very least, the Amendment renders prohibitory and restrictive regulation presumptively unconstitutional.
"On the other hand, some scholars point to the prefatory language 'a well regulated Militia' to argue that the Framers intended only to restrict Congress from legislating away a state's right to self-defense."
The NRA warned that "a plan to pack the Court is a plan to destroy the Second Amendment."
"Biden and Harris have both made their own position on the Second Amendment clear: they don't believe law-abiding Americans have any right to possess firearms at all," the NRA says.
The NRA gave their support to former President Trump who they said: "has been a strong defender of the right to keep and bear arms."
What is the DOJ's latest Gun Confiscation Order Legislation?
On June 7, the Department of Justice released model state gun confiscation order legislation - sometimes referred to as “extreme risk protection order,” “gun violence restraining order,” or “red flag” legislation.
The DOJ's gun confiscation order legislation is that from the desk of President Biden.
The legislation states: "The court shall issue an emergency ex parte extreme risk protection order upon submission of an application by a petitioner, supported by an affidavit or sworn oral statement of the petitioner or other witness, that provides specific facts establishing probable cause that the respondent’s possession or receipt of a firearm will pose a [significant danger/extreme risk/other appropriate standard established by state law] of personal injury or death to the respondent or another person."
The Biden administration proposes a “probable cause” evidentiary standard for the ex parte gun confiscation order procedure.
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This means that the petitioner need not establish proof that the respondent poses a “risk” for the court to issue a confiscation order.
Biden's gun confiscation orders were issued after a full hearing, where the respondent had an opportunity to participate or would strip a person of their Second Amendment rights and firearms for at least one year.
After the events of the San Jose shooting, -where Samuel Cassidy opened - Biden again called on Congress to pass gun control legislation.
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"Enough," he said.
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"Once again, I urge Congress to take immediate action and heed the call of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners, to help end this epidemic of gun violence in America.
"Every life that is taken by a bullet pierces the soul of our nation. We can, and we must, do more."
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