President Joe Biden’s anti-Second Amendment sentiments have gotten him in trouble…again…following remarks last week at a California fundraising event during which he once again trotted out his contention that gun rights advocates would “need an F-16” to “work against the government,” according to Fox News.
It’s not the first time he has alluded to using military might against U.S. citizens who disagree with his administration’s gun policies.
During his comments, according to a White House transcript, Biden insisted he is “a Second Amendment guy.” But then, he stated, “So what’s the deal with the idea that it’s an absolute — you know, I love these guys who say the Second Amendment is — you know, the tree of liberty is water with the blood of patriots. Well, if want to do that, you want to work against the government, you need an F-16. You need something else than just an AR-15. Anyway.
The generic point — (laughter) — the generic point I want to make is — and I’m going to end this because I’m bored myself now. (Laughter.)”
Perhaps just as alarming to Biden critics as his remarks are the notations that they drew laughter from people in the room.
According to Fox News, reaction from Republican lawmakers is prickly, with Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) observing, “Well he certainly doesn’t sound like a Second Amendment guy. The fact is, President Biden has long held positions that are hostile to Second Amendment rights. And I think it’s demonstrable in his policy agenda.”
And there was this remark from Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett: “He needs to stick to his knitting. His cognitive skills have dropped considerably since he’s been in office, and that just shows. We take an oath to uphold the Constitution. If he’s not going to uphold the Second Amendment, what’s next? The First Amendment, the Third Amendment, where are we going with it?”
Rep. Ron Estes from Kansas commented to Fox News Digital, “It’s troubling to hear Biden tout his college teaching days while blatantly misrepresenting the Constitution and trying to compare guns used for self-defense to F-16 fighter jets….He’s clearly out of touch with everyday Americans who he thinks cling to our guns and Bibles. Instead, we know the Founding Fathers made certain to include this right to preserve for future generations our ability to maintain our independence and protect ourselves.”
Biden’s track record on guns, and gaffes, is well-documented. He has championed virtually every major gun control bill introduced on Capitol Hill over the past five decades, since he first arrived in Washington, D.C. He has acknowledged his desire to not only ban the sale of so-called “assault weapons” but also 9mm pistols. And, his claim that the Second Amendment didn’t allow some people to own guns or—at the time the Constitution was adopted—cannons has been debunked by fact-checkers.
“We have to change,” Biden said, according to Fox News and the White House transcript. “There’s a lot of things we can change, because the American people by and large agree you don’t need a weapon of war. I’m a Second Amendment guy. I taught it for four years, six years in law school. And guess what? It doesn’t say that you can own any weapon you want. It says there are certain weapons that you just can’t own. Even during when it was passed, you couldn’t own a cannon. You can’t own a machine gun.… No, I’m serious.”
Actually, with proper paperwork, people in many states can own machineguns.
Many in the firearms community castigate Biden for his anti-gun politics, while at the same time chuckling over some of his observations which are demonstrably wrong. They consider him the “gift that keeps on giving.”
