Joe Biden pressed his case for more gun control during his address to Congress, and he implored Republicans to “join with the overwhelming majority of their Democratic colleagues” to make it happen because, in his words, “it worked.”
It may be a case of wishful thinking and foggy memory.
Last night, Joe once again tried to make the 2nd Amendment about hunting.
It's not about hunting.
It's about protection from a tyrannical government.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) April 29, 2021
Thursday morning, the Arizona Republic/AZCentral ran piece from FactCheck.org on Biden’s remarks noting, “The president claimed the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired 10 years later, ‘worked,’ but the academic evidence isn’t clear.”
The newspaper then spent 647 words explaining why Biden is treading on thin ice. As noted by the fact check, “Research published in Criminology & Public Policy in January 2020 concluded that assault weapons bans ‘do not seem to be associated with the incidence of fatal mass shootings.’ However, state laws requiring handgun purchasers to obtain a license and state bans of large-capacity magazines did appear to be ‘associated with reductions in fatal mass shootings.’”
The article also said a RAND “review of gun studies, updated in 2020, found there is ‘inconclusive evidence for the effect of assault weapon bans on mass shootings’ and that ‘available evidence is inconclusive for the effect of assault weapon bans on total homicides and firearm homicides.’”
The article went on to quote Andrew Morral, identified as a RAND senior behavioral scientist who told Fact.Check.org in March, “We don’t think there are great studies available yet to state the effectiveness of assault weapons bans. That’s not to say they aren’t effective. The research we reviewed doesn’t provide compelling evidence one way or the other.”
One thing Biden didn’t recall is that after passing the Brady Handgun Law in 1993 and the Clinton Crime Bill in 1994 with the ban on so-called “assault weapons,” Democrats were trounced in the 1994 mid-term election, losing more than 50 seats on Capitol Hill and surrendering control of Congress to Republicans for several years.
Reacting to Biden’s remarks about gun control, freshman Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, who won her office last year largely on her pro-Second Amendment stance, tweeted, “Just like Joe Biden pointed out that ‘Build Back Better’ means ‘Build Back Better’, I’ll point out that ‘Shall not be infringed’ means ‘SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!’”
Just like Joe Biden pointed out that “Build Back Better” means “Build Back Better”, I’ll point out that “Shall not be infringed” means “SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!”
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) April 29, 2021
In a subsequent tweet Thursday morning, Boebert observed, “Last night, Joe once again tried to make the 2nd Amendment about hunting. It’s not about hunting. It’s about protection from a tyrannical government.” That message elicited several critical reactions, but also garnered support.
A fight over gun control appears inevitable at this point, with the Senate split 50-50 and the House Democrat majority hanging on by a political thread.
