As the gun debate begins to heat up, the nation’s gun lobby is pointing out what little President Joe Biden and his team know about weapons or why people feel the need to protect themselves.
In a new four-minute video, the National Rifle Association asks, “Why is it that the people who want to take our guns know absolutely nothing about them?”
The video leaves the mockery of Biden, spokeswoman Jen Psaki, and world climate czar John Kerry to key Republican shooters, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Burgess Owens of Utah, and North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
Why is it that the people who want to take our guns know absolutely nothing about them?@TedCruz, @MikePompeo, @Jim_Jordan, @BurgessOwens, and @MarkRobinsonNC react and roast. ? pic.twitter.com/uMUd7gyZpT
— NRA (@NRA) March 30, 2021
“They really believe they know everything about everything, and they know nothing about guns,” said Owens.
The video opens with Biden’s advice to his wife to ward off encroachers by taking a double-barreled shotgun to the balcony and firing a couple blasts. “I promise you, whoever is coming in is not gonna,” he said.
Of course, gun advocates explain, that’s not safe, she would then be out of ammunition, and none of the attackers would be injured.
He continued by opposing AR-15s and the five or more rounds those rifles can hold, saying, “you don’t need 30 rounds to protect yourself.” His advice: “Buy a shotgun.”
Said Jordan, “It’s almost like, where do you start?”
Owens suggested, “Have him come to Philadelphia. Have him come to Detroit. Chicago. And, walk outside and use a shotgun and see what happens at that point.”
Robinson added, “Aren’t warning shots illegal?”
And Pompeo said, “You know, Americans ought to have the right to defend themselves precisely the way that the Constitution and our founders understood it. Somehow, the idea that President Biden gets to decide precisely which firearms we ought to have and precisely how we ought to protect our home and our family is absolutely ludicrous.”
President Biden has a long history of working on gun control legislation — and found success in the 1990s with the Brady Bill.
But advocates say they’re disappointed by Biden appearing to shift gun control down his list of priorities as president. https://t.co/tFRmyj7Val
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) March 29, 2021
The video is the latest effort by Second Amendment groups to push back on the Biden administration’s promises for more gun control, especially in the wake of mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado this month. As a senator, Biden pushed for the 1994 assault weapons ban, but as vice president to President Barack Obama, he failed to win approval for gun control even after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut.
His effort also comes as a historic number of people own a historic number of guns, including women and minorities concerned about protecting themselves.
The NRA and other groups are warning pro-gun people that any law will tangle with them, not just criminals. To show the lack of knowledge on guns further in the administration, the video also played Kerry’s reference to “AR-16s.” There is no such thing.
Jordan said, “So, in other words, the guy who flies around the world in his private jet lecturing us about climate change is now telling us that we’re going to get rid of a gun that doesn’t exist. Oh, you know, just brilliant.”
Cruz picked up the gun lobby’s argument that instead of disarming law-abiding people, the administration should hunt down criminals using and selling guns.
“They want to disarm you. Not because you’re violent. Not because you’re a criminal. But because you are a free and independent American. We’re going to defend our liberty. Despite their lies,” he said.
