Is Biden’s Proposed Assault Weapon Ban a Good Idea?
Joe Biden penned an op-ed for the New York Times (below) in which he offers a simple solution for America’s gun violence epidemic: ban assault weapons. Would this solution violate the Second Amendment? Would it work?
We have a huge problem with guns. Assault weapons — military-style firearms designed to fire rapidly — are a threat to our national security, and we should treat them as such. Anyone who pretends there’s nothing we can do is lying — and holding that view should be disqualifying for anyone seeking to lead our country.
First, a quick bit of history: The U.S. had a ban on “assault weapons” — semiautomatic guns with certain combinations of “tactical” cosmetic features, including pistol grips and folding stocks — from 1994 to 2004… After the ban was allowed to expire, experts were more or less unanimous that it hadn’t had a strong effect on overall homicides.
Good faith is where the debate must begin, and it’s where Biden fails more than anywhere else… It’s hard to tell how Biden gets Republicans on board with his ideas if he says their opposition stems only from their lust over campaign donations. That sort of talk may play well in the primaries, but it won’t do much to persuade Republican lawmakers if the former VP is sitting in the Oval Office in 2021.