Biden Rolls Out Plan That Bans Sale of 'Assault Weapons,' Limits Number of Guns a Person Can Buy
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden is calling for a ban on the manufacture and sale of so-called “assault weapons” as part of a gun control proposal unveiled Wednesday.
The Biden gun control plan would give those who currently legally own “assault weapons” the option of either selling them to the government or registering them, Axios reported.
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman, has called for a so-called “mandatory buyback” of AR-15 and AK-47 rifles.
Biden’s plan would ban the future manufacture and sale of such guns, as well as high-capacity magazines. What Biden refers to as “assault weapons” would be regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act, which was passed to control the sale of automatic guns.
The proposal also requires biometric technology that would restrict operation of a gun to only those allowed to use it, The Washington Post reported.
“Why is it any violation of the First Amendment at all to say, from this moment on, every weapon we sold, every gun we sold in America, has to have your biometric marker on it?” Biden said in August.
“You can still buy a gun if you pass a background check. You go out there and you can own it, you can use it.”
There’s been much discussion of gun policy in the Democratic debates, but it has been more heat than light. Today @JoeBiden released an excellent 11-page evidence-based gun policy clearly based on talking to public health experts. Ambitious but plausible. https://t.co/AGMXKdC1am
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) October 2, 2019
Biden’s plan would also impose universal background checks on virtually all gun sales and block the ability to buy guns and ammunition online.
The plan Biden’s campaign released also calls for beefing up state and local licensing requirements as well as providing money to states to enforce and enact red flag laws that can take away guns from individuals who are deemed a risk to themselves or others.
Under Biden’s plan, anyone convicted of a “hate crime” could never buy a gun.
Gun owners would be limited to purchasing one gun a month under the proposal, which also would rescind a law that limits liability of firearm manufacturers when their guns are used in mass shootings.
A $900 million program Biden proposes in his plan would also seek to reduce shootings in the 40 cities with the highest rates of gun violence in the country, CNN reported.
The plan calls for a task force to study connections between mass shootings, violence against women, what Biden defines as extremism and online bullying, according to Politico. The plan would also fund studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into gun violence.
Biden’s campaign indicated to Politico that the plan would be paid for by a tax on the “super wealthy,” but did not outline specifics.
In an Op-Ed on the pro-Second Amendment site Bearing Arms, commentator and author Cam Edwards lashed out at Biden’s plan.
“This is what passes for ‘moderation’ on gun control in today’s Democrat Party,” Edwards wrote.
“Biden’s plan would allow owners of so-called ‘assault weapons’ to continue to own them, wouldn’t institute a federal gun license, and doesn’t call for increased taxes on firearms and ammunition or attempt to institute a ‘microstamping’ or bullet serialization law. It would still violate the constitutional rights of Americans in several ways; from banning the most commonly sold rifle in the country to rationing the right to keep arms to one firearm per month.”
“These are soundbite solutions, not serious policy proposals,” Edwards added.
“Unfortunately, seriousness is in short supply when it comes to anti-gun politicians and their gun control plans. They’re far more interested in ‘doing something’ they believe to be politically popular than in doing anything to substantively address the individuals perpetrating acts of violence.”
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