Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Did Biden Call Most American Gun Owners Sick?

Monday, December 5, 2022

Did Biden Call Most American Gun Owners Sick?

There are few things in life that one can truly count on. Of course, there’s the old saying about death and taxes, and we know the sun will rise in the East and set in the West. But it’s getting to the point where you can guarantee that, when Joe Biden says anything about firearms, it will be either outrageous, a blatant lie, or just incomprehensible.

Sometimes it’s all three.

On Thanksgiving, while vacationing in Massachusetts, Biden was asked about a shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va. The president told reporters, “(T)he idea we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick. It’s just sick. It has no, no social redeeming value. Zero. None”

So Biden went with outrageous, this time.

First, if Biden thinks it is “sick” to “allow” semiautos to be purchased, he must think those purchasing them are also “sick.” That’s tens-of-millions of Americans that the man who was sold as a great uniter appears to have labeled as “sick.”

That’s outrageous.

Second, there’s the notion that semiautos are “allowed” to be sold; as if the government has been simply giving us permission for well over a century to purchase and possess them, and that permission can be rescinded.

Again, that’s outrageous, not to mention unconstitutional.

Finally, there’s Biden’s idea that semiautos have “no social redeeming value.” Tell that to anyone who has used a semiauto to defend themselves, or others, from violent criminals. Tell that to Eli Dicken, Jack Wilson, or Stephen Willeford, who all used semiautomatic firearms to end mass attacks.

Outrageous may not fully-describe such a viewpoint. To borrow Biden’s phrasing, one might consider this opinion—one which seems to reject the idea that innocent victims should be able to use the most effective means available to defend themselves from violent criminals—as “sick.”

But this is where we are today, under the most anti-gun presidential administration this country has ever known. Biden may be willing to say virtually anything, no matter how disconnected from reality, in order to promote his unrelenting disdain for America’s law-abiding gun owners and the Second Amendment.

Even after the recent midterm election, where his party lost control of the House of Representatives while repeatedly pushing a virulently anti-gun legislative agenda, and polling indicates ¾ of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, Biden has said he won’t change his divisive approach to governing.

Of course, one might argue that his comments about semiautos were just another example of Biden’s propensity for unforced errors when speaking without a script. This is, after all, the undisputed, undefeated King of Gaffes.

After his condemnation of all semiautos, he did mention his well-known goal of banning “assault weapons.”

But before anyone dismisses his declaration that it is “sick” to “allow” the purchase of “semiautomatic weapons” to mean he was referring just to “assault weapons,” mountains of evidence indicate otherwise.

First, Biden has repeatedly suggested he wishes to ban 9mm handguns; by far the most popular class of semiautomatic handgun in America.

Second, the murders in Virginia to which Biden was responding did not involve a so-called “assault weapon.” The murderer used a semiautomatic handgun.

And, finally, Joe Biden has been promoting banning “assault weapons” for more than a quarter century. He will gladly tell anyone who listens that he, and he alone, is the reason for the original passage of the 1994 ban on “assault weapons.” A man who is that much of an “expert” on the subject wouldn’t simply mistakenly conflate the term “semiautomatic” with “assault weapon.” Clearly, he considers all semiautomatic firearms to be “assault weapons.”

We’ve known for some time that Joe Biden has utter contempt for the Second Amendment, and has repeatedly tried to eviscerate it. We also know he despises the firearms industry, and hopes to destroy it. Now, apparently, he has decided that most law-abiding gun owners are “sick.” What Biden’s new strategy of vilifying certain American citizens who choose to exercise their rights protected under the Second Amendment means for the future of our right to keep and bear arms remains to be seen.

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.