AP Photo/Matt Slocum
Former Vice President Joe Biden is the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president. That’s not surprising since he’s a former vice president and was part of the Obama administration, which Democrats seem to view as a positive for some insane reason. However, if he wanted to keep that status, he’s going to have to beat the anti-gun war drum.
Luckily for him, he was ready to do just that.
Former Vice President Joe Biden pledged on Tuesday to “defeat the National Rifle Association” as part of his 2020 campaign promise to fight for school safety.
“As President, he will secure passage of gun legislation to make our students safer, and he knows he can do it because he’s defeated the National Rifle Association twice before,” Biden’s plan, released on Tuesday, read.
It stated part of the plan to “defeat” the NRA included supporting legislation that banned “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines.
His plan came after a slew of school shootings that prompted Democrats to call for gun control laws. Biden’s planned seemed more moderate than other 2020 candidates’ — specifically Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., — in that he focused on working through Congress rather than substantially expanding executive authority in the ways others proposed doing.
Of course, Biden didn’t mention that we had an “assault weapon” ban for a decade and it accomplished jack squat.
He should know. He was part of the Congress that passed it. He was also there when the measure sunset and discussions were had about possibly renewing the law. It was pointed out then that the law didn’t do anything.
At the time, anti-gunners pointed to a decrease in the crime rate and tried to claim credit for it. The problem was, the crime rate had been dropping for years beforethe “assault weapon” ban and continued at the same rate after the ban went into effect. Further, that crime rate continued to drop after the ban sunset.
In other words, it didn’t do a damn thing.
Now, either Biden knows this, in which case he’s pandering, or he doesn’t, which means he’s an idiot. Of course, pandering doesn’t preclude stupidity.
If there’s at least one good thing about Biden’s proposals, it’s that he’s acknowledging the limits of executive power. If we’re going to get saddled with federal gun control laws, they have to come through Congress. That’s how the Constitution lays out the legislative process. Congress passes laws, the president signs and enforces those laws. Presidents don’t get to make them up on their own.
Further, as noted in the quote above, Biden’s proposal is less bombastic, more moderate. That’s likely to play better with moderate members of the Democratic Party, voters who are feeling more and more alienated by the liberal extremism that’s taking hold of it. These are voters who don’t like “assault weapons” typically but also aren’t interested in radically changing the firearm landscape.
Not that what Biden is proposing is any better. Gun control is gun control, and we don’t need any of it.
It should be interesting to see what role gun control plays in the primary process. We’ll learn an awful lot about the hearts and minds of Democrats in the process.