Amid his lengthy and frequently emotional “farewell speech” to the Democratic National Convention, President Joe Biden still had some remarks reaffirming his commitment to gun control.
Near the end of his speech, which saw him fumble a few words here and there, Biden—who immediately left Chicago and traveled to California for vacation—declared the murder rate is falling “faster than any time in history.”
However, according to the annual FBI Crime Report, homicides increased 4.3 percent in 2021 over 2020, the first year of Biden’s presidency. Then, in 2022, the most recent year for which FBI data is available, murders decreased an estimated 6.1 percent.
He took a dig at former President Donald Trump, now running for a second term.
“Violent crime has dropped to the lowest level of more than 50 years,” Biden stated. “And crime will keep coming down when we put a prosecutor in the Oval Office instead of a convicted felon.”
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in what many consider a “kangaroo court” trial in New York earlier this year, providing Democrats the opportunity to slap the “convicted felon” label on him.
Biden reflected on his past efforts to ban so-called “assault weapons.”
“And folks, the distinguished Senator from California and I passed the first ban on assault weapons,” Biden told the audience. “And guess what? It worked. If we care about public safety, we need to prevent gun violence. And what makes me ashamed when I’ve traveled the world, which I do, more children in America are killed by a gunshot than any other cause in the United States. More die from a bullet than cancer, accidents, or anything else in the United States of America.”
He contended that he and Vice President Kamala Harris “beat the NRA when we passed the first major bipartisan gun safety law in 30 years. I am serious…And now it’s time to ban assault weapons again and demand universal background checks.”
Biden has five months remaining in office. Whether he pursues a ban in order to fulfill some desired legacy, it is unlikely Congress, with the Senate under Democrat control and the House under GOP leadership, will take any action before the end of the year, or the end of Biden’s term in January 2025.
