Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Clinton and Biden Join Forces to Infringe Your Rights

Monday, May 4, 2020

Clinton and Biden Join Forces to Infringe Your Rights

Despite ongoing speculation as to whether a deteriorating Joe Biden will even be the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nominee, on April 28 failed 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton endorsed the former vice president's White House bid. The endorsement took place during a socially distant "Women's Town Hall," where the lifelong politicians focused almost entirely on the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinton noted that the pandemic "would be a terrible crisis to waste" and urged that it should be used to enact permanent government interventions.

On the issue of gun control, the former secretary of state and the former vice president are a perfect match. Both Clinton and Biden support the prohibition and confiscation of common firearms owned by law-abiding Americans. Moreover, both reject the core holding of the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller - that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms "in common use" for lawful purposes.

During an October 2015 campaign event in Keene, N.H., then-presidential candidate Clinton expressed her support for Australia-style gun confiscation. A member of the audience told the former first lady that Australia "managed to …take away …millions of handguns, and in one year, they were all gone.”He then asked her, “Can we do that?”​

The candidate responded that both Australia and the United Kingdom were "good example[s]" of how countries should respond to a “mass killing.”

“The Australian example,”she said, “that was a buyback program.”She went on to explain that the Australian government “offered a good price”for “buying hundreds of thousands of guns, and then they basically clamped down going forward ….”  They were thus able, she explained, “to curtail the supply”of guns and “to set a different standard for gun purchases in the future."

Clinton went on to say, “I think it would be worth considering doing it on the national level if that could be arranged,”adding, "certainly the Australian example is worth looking at.”​

As NRA has repeatedly pointed out, an involuntary “buyback”is gun confiscation.​

These Clinton-endorsed gun confiscation measures are right in line with what Biden has in mind for American gun owners.

When asked about commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms during an August 5, 2019 interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Biden and Cooper had the following exchange. 

Cooper: So, to gun owners out there who say well a Biden administration means they are going to come for my guns. 

Biden: Bingo! You’re right if you have an assault weapon.

In addition to wanting to ban and confiscate America’s most popular firearms, Clinton and Biden also share denial of the Second Amendment. 

During the 2016 presidential race, Clinton repeatedly made clear that she does not believe the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms as the U.S. Supreme Court held in D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago.

On September 25, 2015, Clinton attended a private campaign fundraiser in Greenwich Village, New York City. An audio recording of the event captured Clinton telling those gathered, “the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment. And I am going to make that case every chance I get.”

A May 30, 2016 New York Magazine article shed more light on Clinton's radical position. The article described a scene at a Clinton campaign rally at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. While speaking with a family that lost a loved one in the Sandy Hook shooting, Clinton told them her plans for gun control. During the interaction, Clinton described District of Columbia v. Heller as “a terrible decision.”​

Given the opportunity to clarify her extreme position, Clinton refused to back off her incorrect interpretation of the Second Amendment. During the June 5 edition of ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos asked Clinton, "

Do you believe that an individual’s right to bear arms is a constitutional right –that it’s not linked to service in a militia?" 

Clinton evaded the question, prompting Stephanopoulos ​to reiterate, "Do you believe that [the court’s] conclusion that an individual’s right to bear arms is a constitutional right?" Refusing to concede that the Second Amendment protects an individual right, Clinton responded, "If it’s a constitutional right, then it, like every other constitutional right, is subject to reasonable regulations​." 

Clinton will feel right at home in Biden's camp. 

Even two years after her loss to President Donald Trump, Gallup measured Clinton's favorability rating an all-time low of 36 percent. With numbers like that, it's unclear from a political standpoint why Biden would seek out a high-profile endorsement from the two-time presidential loser. From an anti-gun policy standpoint, it makes perfect sense.

TRENDING NOW
U.S. Senate Forced to Remove Pro-Gun Language from Reconciliation Bill

News  

Friday, June 27, 2025

U.S. Senate Forced to Remove Pro-Gun Language from Reconciliation Bill

Today, the U.S. Senate was forced to remove the pro-gun language that had been previously included in the Reconciliation Bill currently making its way through the chamber. We explained in a previous article that this language would, ...

U.S. Senate Adds Pro-Gun Tax Relief Language Back into Reconciliation Bill

News  

Saturday, June 28, 2025

U.S. Senate Adds Pro-Gun Tax Relief Language Back into Reconciliation Bill

Overnight, the U.S. Senate added pro-gun tax relief language back into the Reconciliation bill after the Senate Parliamentarian struck out an earlier provision.  While this new provision is not as expansive as the language we advocated for which ...

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

News  

Second Amendment  

Thursday, May 22, 2025

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

In a single sentence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit added to the high-profile and consequential national conversation on firearm suppressors.

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Recently, House Bill 193 (H193) was reported favorably out of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee, with amendments.

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down CA’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

Friday, June 20, 2025

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down CA’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that California’s law prohibiting people from buying more than one firearm in a 30-day period violates the Second Amendment.

News  

Second Amendment  

Friday, June 27, 2025

Joint Statement from Pro-Gun Groups on the Senate Reconciliation Bill

On behalf of millions of NRA members and gun owners, we stand united in calling on Congress to uphold Americans' Second Amendment rights and zero out the NFA's excise tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms.

Minnesota: Shotgun-Only Hunting Zones Repealed

Friday, June 20, 2025

Minnesota: Shotgun-Only Hunting Zones Repealed

On Monday, June 9th, outside of regular session, the Senate passed the Environment Omnibus bill, removing shotgun-only hunting zones in the state. 

Senate Finance Committee Releases Text of Reconciliation Bill

News  

Monday, June 16, 2025

Senate Finance Committee Releases Text of Reconciliation Bill

Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance released its portion of the Senate version of the Reconciliation Bill. Late last month, the U.S. House passed a version of the Reconciliation Bill which included Section 2 of the ...

Oregon: Omnibus Gun-Control Bill Heads to the Governor's Desk

Friday, June 27, 2025

Oregon: Omnibus Gun-Control Bill Heads to the Governor's Desk

With only two days left in the legislative session, the Oregon legislature has allowed the passage of Senate Bill 243, the gun control omnibus package. SB 243 has been transmitted to Governor Tina Kotek's desk ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.