Career anti-gun President Joe Biden, with just over a month remaining in office, quickly exploited the tragic school shooting Monday in Madison, Wisconsin to push his gun control agenda, say critics in the firearms community.
In a statement released by the White House, President Biden declared, “Congress must pass commonsense gun safety laws: Universal background checks. A national red flag law. A ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
However, the alleged killer, a 15-year-old female student identified by Fox News as Natalie Rupnow, who also called herself Samantha, used a handgun. Youngsters cannot legally purchase handguns in Wisconsin—or anywhere else in the U.S. under federal law—so a “universal background check” requirement would be irrelevant. The murder weapon reportedly was a pistol, not a so-called “assault weapon,” so banning such firearms would also not have prevented this crime. It is not known whether the handgun recovered by police held a magazine capable of holding more than 10 cartridges, so it is questionable whether this is also an issue not connected to the shooting.
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, released a prepared statement in which he declared, “Joe Biden just couldn’t restrain himself from once again rolling out his one-size-fits-all gun control wish list…Demanding that Congress quickly pass universal background check (registration) legislation and ban so-called ‘assault weapons’ and ‘high-capacity magazines’ in response to this terrible crime is one of the stupidest, but expected reactions from a career gun prohibitionist whose history of gaffes is legendary.
“Joe Biden knows 15-year-olds can’t legally buy handguns anywhere in this country,” Gottlieb continued, “so a call for background checks is irrelevant. Police have recovered a handgun which was used in the shooting, so calling for a ban on semiautomatic rifles and their magazines is also irrelevant and dishonest. Indeed, such demands underscore just how irrelevant Joe Biden and his gun ban agenda have become.”
Eric Friday, a Florida attorney serving as general counsel for Florida Carry, reacted on social media.
“Calls for ‘universal’ background checks when the shooting was committed by a 15yo who is not allowed to purchase a gun, is just using a tragedy to advance an agenda. ‘Universal’ background checks are an attempt to create a gun registry and limit the right to bear arms.
Red flag laws also have no applicability to people who are too young to buy a gun in the first place.
“There is no excuse for continuing to regulate law abiding citizens,” Friday said. “There is no excuse for denying parents, teachers, and staff, the ability to defend our schools with the same guns they carry every day in other locations to protect themselves and their families.”
Initial reports incorrectly set the number of dead at five, but as the investigation unfolded, that number was walked back.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told reporters that responding officers found Rapnow with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that she died on the way to the hospital.
Biden was not the only politician to suggest more gun control laws are the answer to school shootings. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting that Congressman Mark Pocan, a Democrat, posted a message on his “X” account stating, “Be ready for the lack of action on guns by this Congress. Sad.”
He subsequently posted another message, the newspaper quoted: “It’s time for my Republican colleagues to grow a backbone and put our children above the gun lobby by passing commonsense gun safety laws that will save countless lives.”
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway commented, “I am on record that I think we need to do better in our country and our community to prevent gun violence.”
Democrat State Sen. Kelda Roys issued a statement in which she declared, “Right now, it’s hard to think of a greater moral failing as a nation and society than our inaction and unwillingness to keep our children safe from gun violence. We do not have to accept this as an ordinary part of life. No other country does. Indeed – guns are the number one cause of death for American children, and that is a policy choice.”
Meanwhile, CCRKBA’s Gottlieb stated, “In the aftermath of this tragedy, common sense and cooler heads must prevail. Instead of shooting-from-the-lip, as Biden has done throughout his 50-plus years in politics, we look forward to working with the next administration on rational preventive measures and intelligent solutions, such as armed resource officers and improved mental health counseling, instead of spewing specious sound-bite suggestions which shift blame from the perpetrator to a constitutionally-enumerated fundamental right.”
