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President Joe Biden is demanding that Congress act immediately Weapons of assault in the US Such as the AR-15 which was recently used in several mass shootings. As we mourn the horrific loss of life, it is understandable that emotions run rampant. And while feelings often lead to action, those actions are not always valid. That is Biden’s real dilemma.
Our current president has a tendency to blame for everything that goes wrong. For years, his favorite boogeyman for gun violence has been the National Rifle Association and arms manufacturer. During his 2020 presidential campaign, he warned, “I’m going to pick you up and I’m going to defeat you.” He repeated that vow during his address to the nation on Thursday evening.
As is often the case with Biden, he has sought to discredit the wrong target. His hindrance to gun control measures is that strange document called the Constitution and, in particular, the Second Amendment. As a lawyer, he should have known this but apparently it is not. Somebody should trace him. If he knows, he is guilty of negligence for the sake of democracy.
Biden says Second Amendment ‘not complete’ to reinstate assault weapons ban
In the original case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the US Supreme Court affirmed The right of a person to keep and keep arms under the Second Amendment, Biden is right when he says this cherished right is not absolute. But he is wrong when he claims that Congress has the power to ban the guns it wants to ban. Neither the President nor the legislature has the power to abrogate the constitutional right. This can be accomplished only by amending the Constitution.
In Heller, the High Court cautioned that lawmakers have the ability to impose reasonable limits, including “laws prohibiting the possession of firearms by criminals and the mentally ill, or the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings”. Is. Although, A complete ban on a category of guns will surely overcome the constraints of the Constitution, Even the liberal-leaning 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a California law banning semi-automatic weapons last month.
Biden wants to eliminate an entire class of guns that are extremely popular. More than 15 million Americans have an AR-15 (ArmaLite Rifle). Contrary to belief (and Biden’s previous incendiary comment), it is not an automatic weapon like a machine gun that continuously chambers and fires bullets when the trigger is activated. Instead, it fires a single round each time the trigger is pulled.
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The AR-15 appeals to gun owners because it is lightweight, has interchangeable parts, is easy to use, and is highly effective for both self-defense and hunting.
FILE — AR-15 rifles are on display for sale at the Guntoberfest Gun Show on October 6, 2017 in Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA. Reuters/Joshua Roberts/File photo
(Reuters)
The president also wants to outlaw high-capacity magazines. This would disable the vast majority of firearms in the country as most modern guns are designed to only accept magazines that carry more than ten rounds. Biden clearly knows this, the undeclared intention behind his agenda that he is readily hiding.
Finally, almost as an idea, Biden threw in another demand that semi-automatic handguns be banned. For millions, they are the weapon of choice among smaller firearms. But it was such a brief mention by the President that you might miss it. The casual nature of its context underscored their lack of seriousness.
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In his address, Biden insisted, “This is not about taking people’s guns away.” sure it is. No reasonably intelligent person believes that outlawing millions of firearms does not have the desired effect of disarming a significant portion of the population. Law abiding citizens should not be punished for the abusive acts of a few.
Biden justified his sweeping ban, citing a previous law from a generation ago. In 1994, Congress passed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It somewhat managed to avoid legal challenges but never by virtue of the Second Amendment. The law expired several years before the current constitutional standard was established by Heller’s decision. According to the Justice Department, the earlier ban had no measurable effect on gun violence.
In the wake of Heller’s opinion, Biden hardly addressed the elephant in the Second Amendment room, despite his best efforts to demonstrate Republicans for daring to uphold constitutional principles. He probably knows that his demand to eliminate specified guns is unconstitutional. At one point he said, “If we can’t ban assault weapons…” and then he offered other common sense measures.
President Joe Biden listens virtually meeting with infant formula manufacturers at the South Court Auditorium at the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, June 1, 2022.
((AP Photo/Susan Walsh))
Those ideas are absolutely worth exploring because they may very well pass constitutional scrutiny. Some of them appeal to Republicans who have expressed a desire to create a bipartisan solution. These include raising the age to buy a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21, enacting a national red flag law, better efforts for mental health, stronger background checks and increased security in schools. On their face these are rational moves that may have the potential to reduce some of the violence. However, it is a hard reality that not every tragic mass shooting is preventable.
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On Thursday evening, Biden described the crisis of urgency and called on Congress to act quickly. Then, he left for his palatial pad in Rehoboth Beach for a long weekend.
Perhaps the crisis is not even so urgent.
Click here to read more from Greg Jarrett