When it comes to Joe Biden and his plans to gut the Second Amendment, one saying may spring to mind: There’s nothing new under the sun. Last week’s State of the Union (SOTU) Address showed that to be abundantly true.
With Biden’s approval rating steadily dropping at an alarming rate—alarming for him, at least—and this free-fall showing no signs that there is a bottom in site, it would stand to reason that the president would be desperate to use his SOTU Address to say something that might stop the bleeding. At a bare minimum, he had to do something to keep the extremist fringe of his supporters from defecting.
Enter Joe’s old friend; gun control.
Last week, we noted that at least some of his most radical anti-gun supporters appeared to blame Biden for the failure to enact new restrictions on our right to keep and bear arms. In their minds, it seems, he had not done enough to advance the cause of disarming law-abiding citizens. Perhaps to throw a bone to those gun-ban radicals, Joe took a few moments during his SOTU Address to remind Americans just how much disdain he has for the Second Amendment.
But it was nothing more than the same, tired attacks we’ve seen from Biden ad nauseum.
He mentioned banning some of the most popular guns in America and standard-capacity magazines, spoke of outlawing the private transfer of firearms, and promoted repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) so that the firearms industry can be sued into oblivion.
Biden also resorted to regurgitating the same lies he always does to promote his anti-gun agenda, and even repeated the weird, poorly-crafted “joke” about deer in Kevlar vests; a “joke” he used at his first address to a joint session of Congress, then repeated about two months later.
Although that “joke” has been around for some time, Biden has adopted it as his own, perhaps even believing he is the author. His speech writers don’t seem to like it, as it did not appear to be included in his prepared remarks. But Joe ad-libbed it anyways, and it landed with its usual dull thud.
As for his lies, he claimed that the PLCAA “makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that can’t be sued—the only one.” In fact, the PLCAA merely protects gun makers from frivolous, politically-motivated lawsuits. Suits against the industry for knowingly unlawful sales, negligent entrustment, and those predicated on traditional product liability grounds are still permitted.
What Biden should have said is that the PLCAA is necessary—and was enacted in 2005 with broad bipartisan support—because gun manufacturers are the only industry in America that had been regularly targeted with meritless lawsuits because of the criminal misuse of their lawful products by third parties—the only one.
While promoting banning private gun transfers—like those between friends and family—Joe tried to imply that terrorists would be deterred from committing terrorism simply because of another gun control law. One wonders how they get their firearms in other countries that have far more restrictive laws—including outright bans on virtually all firearms?
And, of course, Biden repeated the lie, and again proved he has little understanding of the US Constitution and its Bill of Rights, when he claimed his proposals “don’t infringe on the Second Amendment.”
Maybe the anti-gun extremists that are now questioning Biden’s commitment to eviscerating the Second Amendment are onto something, after all. It does seem like he is simply going through the motions during his public appearances where he talks about firearms. Fortunately, those extremists are probably going to continue to be frustrated.
The majority of Americans simply do not support eliminating the Second Amendment, with gun sales hitting record highs over the last two years, and millions of new, first-time gun owners starting to truly learn about their right to keep and bear arms. Congress does not appear interested in taking up gun control in an election year, although that could change after this November’s midterms.
And Biden? Don’t expect him to change his approach. After being immersed in DC politics for about a half-a-century, Biden is who he is.
Ultimately, when it comes to this president, another saying springs to mind: You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
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