President Joe Biden, in his first address to a joint session of Congress, renewed a push to ban so-called “assault weapons,” “high-capacity magazines,” and “ghost guns” amid a wave of mass shooting incidents in recent weeks.
“These are homemade guns built from a kit that includes directions on how to finish the firearm,” he said of “ghost guns.” “The parts have no serial numbers, so they show up at crime scenes, and they can’t be traced. The buyers of these ghost gun kits aren’t required to pass any background check. Anyone from a criminal to a terrorist could buy this kit and within 30 minutes have a weapon that is lethal. But no more.”
BIDEN TO NOMINATE GUN CONTROL ACTIVIST TO HELM ATF: REPORT
Biden, who was integral in passing the 1994 “assault weapons” ban, also called for removing AR-15-style rifles and other weapons from the marketplace. He further urged Senate Republicans to join the effort in banning the commonly owned weapons.
“It’s time for Congress to act as well,” he said to applause after saying he would do everything in his power to protect citizens from the “epidemic” of gun violence. “I don’t want to become confrontational, but we need more Senate Republicans to join with the overwhelming majority of their Democratic colleagues and close the loopholes and require background checks to purchase guns. We need a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
He continued: “Don’t tell me it can’t be done. We did it before, and it worked. Talk to most responsible gun owners, most hunters, they’ll tell you there’s no possible justification for having 100 rounds in a weapon.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The president earlier in the month issued a host of executive orders that would regulate “ghost guns” and push red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to seize guns prior to an appearance in court for those deemed a threat to themselves or others. Biden also appointed David Chipman, a senior policy adviser at Giffords, a prominent anti-gun group, to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Pro-Second Amendment groups have lambasted the administration for its recent moves.
“This new decree from an administration already infamous for both its disdain for American gun owners and its willingness to skirt the legislative process, could seek to force law-abiding firearm parts and non-firearm objects to be subject to federal firearms laws, and buyers of these parts to be treated as firearm purchasers,” the Firearms Policy Coalition, a prominent pro-gun group, wrote in a statement earlier in the month.
The group continued: “In a time when Americans have clearly spoken with their wallets, setting monthly record after record of new firearms sold, this move is a brazen and shameless attempt to redline the right to bear arms.”
