Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Biden’s Anti-gun Lies are Too Much Even for Legacy Press Fact Checkers

Monday, April 19, 2021

Biden’s Anti-gun Lies are Too Much Even for Legacy Press Fact Checkers

With President Joe Biden securely in office and the 2024 presidential election 43 months away, the mainstream press has determined it an acceptable time to expose the frequent fibber’s most flagrant falsehoods. This week saw a plethora of so-called “fact-checkers” take issue with the blatantly false statements Biden made while announcing his “initial actions” on gun control on April 8. 

In touting H.R. 8, which would criminalize the private transfer of firearms, Biden stated, 

These bills, one, require background checks for anyone purchasing a gun at a gun show or an online sale.

Most people don’t know: If you walk into a store and you buy a gun, you have a background check. But you go to a gun show, you can buy whatever you want and no background check. 

This decades-old gun show talking point is a lie.

There is no “gun show loophole” or “online sales loophole.” Federal law requires all firearm dealers to be licensed and to initiate a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check before transferring a firearm to a non-dealer, regardless of where the transfer takes place. Further, those “dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit” are required to be licensed as firearms dealers. Dealing in firearms without a license is punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. 

Oddly enough, the contours of the current dealer licensing regime were elaborated upon at length by the Obama-Biden administration in 2016. As part of a set of “executive actions,” BATFE developed a document titled “Do I Need a License to Buy and Sell Firearms?” Despite Biden’s claim to have been intimately involved in Obama’s gun control efforts, it appears the noted scholar has little competence with the subject matter. 

The New York Times called Biden’s gun show remarks “exaggerated.” Correctly summarizing the law, the paper explained,

Licensed firearms dealers are required to look up potential buyers in a background check system before a sale is approved. Private sellers are not required to perform such background checks, and some do sell guns at gun shows. But that does not mean that all dealers at gun shows are private, or that all sales at those shows forgo a background check.

a 1999 study from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or A.T.F., found that half to three-quarters of sellers at gun shows were, in fact, licensed. 

Politifact rated Biden’s gun show comments “Mostly False.” The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FactCheck.org called Biden’s statements “wrong.” Going further, the outfit explained, 

It is also worth noting that the [Congressional Research Service], in its 2019 report, said ‘private firearms sales at gun shows … did not appear to be a significant source of guns’ for federal and state prisoners convicted of crimes involving firearms.

The criticism from a wing of the Annenberg Foundation is noteworthy, as the organization has made contributions to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Attacking the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), Biden claimed,

The only industry in America — a billion-dollar industry — that can’t be sued — has exempt from being sued — are gun manufacturers.

this is the only outfit that is exempt from being sued.

The PLCAA was enacted in 2005, with broad bipartisan support, to protect the firearms industry from frivolous and politically-motivated lawsuits. In the mid-1990s, gun control advocates, big city politicians, and trial attorneys teamed up in an attempt to use the courts to bilk the gun industry for millions and force them to agree to gun control measures that gun control supporters were unable to enact in Congress. The suits sought to hold members of the industry liable for the criminal behavior of those who misused their products.

These suits, though they were of little merit, posed a grave threat to the industry - and in turn, America’s gun owners. In 1998, the executive director of the anti-gun U.S. Conference of Mayors was quoted by the New York Times as stating, “[t]he lawyers are seeing green on this issue… they think they can bring the gun industry to its knees.” One of those attorneys “seeing green,” John Coale, was quoted in a 2000 Washington Post article remarking, “[t]he legal fees alone are enough to bankrupt the industry.”

The PLCAA merely prohibits lawsuits against the gun industry for the criminal misuse of their products by a third party. Suits against the industry for knowingly unlawful sales, negligent entrustment, and those predicated on traditional products liability grounds are still permitted.

The New York Times took issue with Biden’s characterization of the PLCAA, and pointed out that the industry is still subject to suit “for breaches of warranty or if a manufacturer or dealer sells a gun knowing that it would be used in a crime.” The Times also noted that the firearms industry’s protection is not unique, explaining,

The gun industry is also not the only industry to have special protections against lawsuits. For example, technology companies also enjoy a legal shield known as Section 230, which protects websites from liability for content created by their users. 

The Washington Post and FactCheck.org also pointed out the inaccuracies in Biden’s comments on the PLCAA.

Prominent anti-gun politicians have made a habit of spewing falsehoods about the PLCAA. In 2015 PolitiFact gave failed Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton a “False” rating for a claim that the firearms industry was “the only business in America that is wholly protected from any kind of liability.”

Biden also stretched the truth in regards to so-called “red flag” laws, which empower the government to confiscate an individual’s guns without due process. Biden claimed, “States that have red flag laws have seen and — seen a reduction in the number of suicides in their states.” Aside from the legitimate discussion as to whether the state should be further empowered in order to protect individuals from themselves, the evidence isn’t there for Biden’s claim.

It isn’t rare for Biden to deceive the public regarding firearms. What is rare is the stinging rebuke the president received from an often fawning mainstream press. A cynic could be forgiven for being skeptical that such dogged coverage will continue into the next election cycle.

IN THIS ARTICLE
Joe Biden Fact Check
TRENDING NOW
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. 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. 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.

Armed Churchgoers Prevent Mass Attack as State Lawmakers Plot More Gun Control

News  

Monday, June 30, 2025

Armed Churchgoers Prevent Mass Attack as State Lawmakers Plot More Gun Control

Just over an hour away from the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan – even as lawmakers worked feverishly to pass various gun control measures, including expansion of “gun free” zones – a chilling reminder unfolded of the ...

Urge the U.S. Senate to Pass the One Big Beautiful Bill – Contact Your U.S. Senators Today!

News  

Monday, June 30, 2025

Urge the U.S. Senate to Pass the One Big Beautiful Bill – Contact Your U.S. Senators Today!

The U.S. Senate has cleared a number of procedural hurdles and is preparing to vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill. This vote will likely come within the next day. The One Big Beautiful Bill includes ...

Canada’s Big Ugly Gun Grab: An Update

News  

Monday, June 30, 2025

Canada’s Big Ugly Gun Grab: An Update

Canada’s Liberal government is pressing on with its harebrained gun ban and confiscation program for “assault style weapons,” but, true to form and precedents, it has been far from smooth sailing.

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.

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.

Argentina President Milei Continues to Make Improvements to Country’s Gun Laws

News  

Monday, June 30, 2025

Argentina President Milei Continues to Make Improvements to Country’s Gun Laws

We’ve reported before about Argentina President Javier Milei expanding access to firearms for law-abiding Argentinians.

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.