If you’ve been following along, you may know that the media has declared Kamala Harris the president-elect…I mean Joe Biden the president-elect.
This is, of course, unofficial. The media has never truly declared the president. Think back to President George W. Bush in 2000 against Al Gore for the perfect example.
Regardless of the outcome of the election, it is smart to prepare for both potential presidents’ gun policies. I want to breakdown the Biden gun plan so that you don’t have to visit his site to figure out his nonsensical plan.
Honestly, any plan that has any form of restrictions has a claim to unconstitutionality. But that’s already been attacked in America, so we should all be prepared for either President’s plan.
Bold Claims With False Basis
The last time I read the Bill of Rights it said that my right to bear arms would not be infringed. Nonetheless, Joe Biden’s plan has some stuff that would definitely infringe this right.
He justifies this with some stats. The administration claims that 40,000 people die from firearm injuries every year. They even cite the CDC for this statistic.
I struggled reading through this pdf to find the right number and I don’t want to confuse all the readers here, so I’ll link to the much easier source to read: the Pew Research website.
What this shows is less than 40,000 deaths are related to firearms. It’s actually 39,773. Let’s be generous and say that they rounded up, so that’s ok.
The problem is that this is a stat from 2017. So, it’s a false claim that it happens every year.
Secondarily, Pew Research breaks down the percentage of this almost 40,000 into 37% being murder, 60% suicide, and only 3% left for “other.”
You could say that 60% is divertable, not necessarily preventable because suicide doesn’t have to be with a firearm. You could say the same about the 37% of murder. Guns aren’t the only took to murder. It’s implied 3% is actually preventable. It’s probably even safe to say these were accidental deaths from firearms. It can be claimed as negligence or carelessness that caused that. Which is pretty sad and should be fought against.
The next big claim made on his site is that the Brady Handgun Violence Act that went into effect in 1994 has kept firearms out of the hands of 3 million dangerous individuals.
Keep in mind, this stat started in 1994 – over 25 years ago.
3 million denials only make up 1.5% of all applicants for the background check required by the Brady Handgun Violence Act since 1994 when it went into effect until December 21, 2015. This is based on the link on Biden’s website outlining the effectiveness of this plan.
I’m not a statistician, but I don’t think 1.5% is a very good mark of effectiveness.
I could do a whole article about his dumb claims and the AR-14 being so dangerous, but I want to get into his actual plan.
Hold Gun Manufacturers Accountable
Back in 2005, Joe Biden, as a senator, voted against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. This law made it to where you couldn’t sue a gun manufacturer if something, that wasn’t a manufacturer defect, happened because of the gun.
Basically, you can’t sue the gun company if someone got a gun somehow and caused death, harm, or damage to you, your property, or a relative.
Biden wants to repeal this law.
Biden wants people to be able to sue Colt because someone came into possession of a Colt firearm and shot their TV or something.
Ok, Fat. This is the equivalent of suing Coca-Cola for making you fat or giving you diabetes even though drank 3 bottles every day.
It’s dumb and would prevent budget firearms from being able to exist at all.
Get Weapons of War Off the Street
First off, what defines a “weapon of war?”
That’s where the issue starts here.
His first part of this plan says, “Ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
Again, please define “assault weapons.” On top of that, the website says, “Federal law prohibits hunters from hunting migratory game birds with more than three shells in their shotgun. That means our federal law does more to protect ducks than children.”
Um, last time I checked there isn’t a law that allows anyone to hunt children…so…
What an absolutely stupid statement.
The next step to get weapons of war off the street is to make people register their assault weapons, which is still undefined.
After registering everyone, they will have a buy-back for the undefined assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. This can easily be outsmarted and a way to get money back by 3-d printing firearm parts with unique serial numbers and selling them back to the government.
The last step is to reduce the stockpiling of firearms by only allowing people the ability to purchase a single firearm a month. I guess this helps, but it could also be seen as a way to have people more proficient in their firearm usage because they get to practice with their new firearm for a whole month before they get distracted with a new one!
Seriously though, this is as stupid as saying people can only buy one pair of shoes a month to stop shoe stockpiling.
Come on, man!
Keep Guns Out of Dangerous Hands
First off, I don’t want anyone determining who has dangerous hands because someone in power might determine the safest person in the world is dangerous just because they got in an argument and don’t like each other.
Background checks typically don’t help because the good people buying firearms legally don’t have a record anyway. It’s the black market sales that people need to worry about.
Also, Biden plans to close all the loopholes. These are things like the “fugitive from justice loophole.” Which isn’t a loophole at all. It allows people with a warrant for their arrest to buy a gun. Until you have officially been convicted of a crime, you legally have the right to purchase a firearm.
Even after the conviction, a case can be made that you still have the right to bear arms. You won’t win that case, but you could make it.
End the Online Sales of Firearms and Ammunition
Quite frankly this is impossible.
Even if you shut down some websites, there will always be another. Plus the dark web exists.
Create a Program that Requires People No Longer Eligible to Buy a Gun Relinquish their Currently Owned Guns
Ah, yes. The classic case that if you can’t drive, you must get rid of your vehicle.
Again, this doesn’t make sense. You can easily avoid this and it can only be enforced if people had already registered all their firearms.
Which is also unlikely.
Incentivize State “Extreme Risk” Laws
Joe Biden wants to give states more reason to start having “extreme risk” laws. Another name for these laws: Red flag laws.
These are unconstitutional and straight-up terrifying for the general public.
Give States Incentives to Set Up Licensing Programs
I’ll start with the obvious, licenses imply that it’s not a right but a privilege. Driving a car is a privilege, but people are more likely to be able to get a driver’s license despite the fact more deaths occur because of driving than firearms.
Adequately Fund the Background Check System
Yay! I love being taxed and my money going to illegal causes!
Make Sure Firearm Owners Take on the Responsibility of Ensuring Their Weapons are Used Safely
The first step in Biden’s plan is to make all firearms smart guns.
The elaboration on this is that only authorized users can fire the guns.
I don’t know if that’s possible, but I’m interested in the technology they are talking about here.
The second step is to hold adults accountable for minors getting possession of firearms.
This needs serious elaboration. How can you do this?
Joe Biden outlines his last step as being forcing gun owners to safely store their firearms.
I’m all for this.
The safest place to store a firearm is on my person though! Also, how do you police this? Random raids? Or, like, you know the thing!
Empower Law Enforcement to Effectively Enforce Our Gun Laws
Basically, this outlines some issues with his plan. You can’t effectively police some of these crazy laws.
Also, the idea of the whole “defund the police” movement won’t be happy at cops getting even more power than they had before.
The dumbest aspect of this is that is mainly based on citizen cooperation. His steps include “prosecute straw purchasers” (which can’t be tracked unless the info is freely given), notifying law enforcement of failed background checks, notifying law enforcement of lost or stolen guns (I would do this anyway because I want my gun found if it is stolen), stopping 3-d printed “ghost guns” that can’t be traced, force the ATF to annually report firearm trafficking, and empowering the justice system to enforce gun laws.
Again, most of these require the good guys to keep being good. The bad guys are going to keep being bad.
The Good Things
This is the shortest section, but Biden does want to support those that are survivors of violence. I’m a huge fan of helping people that need help. This is a better use of my tax money than most uses by the government.
He wants to put more scientific resources into solving the mental health crisis in this country. This is also something President Trump has said multiple times in reference to mass shootings.
Lastly, Biden wants to address gun crime in major cities. He even says that statistically, this affects people of color more than any other community.
Again, this is good. Just worded very poorly.
I don’t think you should say that affects any person more than another because that could end up being racist. Instead, I think we should help the people that need help. It matters more about your area code than the color of your skin.