Tipsheet

Crazy Uncle Joe Strikes Again, This Time He Takes Aim at Handguns

Former Vice President Joe Biden has been all over the place when it comes to his stance on guns and the Second Amendment, although we know he's no friend to gun owners. Just last month he admitted he would favor a national registry for "assault weapons." He's repeatedly championed the idea of "smart guns," even though the technology doesn't exist. But remember: he continually talks about his shotgun.

Biden made another really dumb yet scary comment during a swanky fundraiser hosted by an Amazon executive in Seattle, Washington this weekend. For $2,800 a head, you too could hear the former veep talk about his latest target: the 9mm handgun.

From the Seattle Times:

While saying he supports the Second Amendment, Biden called the absolutist arguments of some gun-rights supporters “bizarre.” Noting people can’t own machine guns or bazookas, Biden said, “Why should we allow people to have military-style weapons including pistols with 9-mm bullets and can hold 10 or more rounds?”

He called the anxiety among young people over being shot in school these days “overwhelming” and “not just in tough neighborhoods but in great neighborhoods like this.”

Mentioning his own shotgun ownership, Biden talked about Delaware goose-hunting restrictions that limit hunters to three shotgun shells. “We protect geese from Canada more than we do people,” he said.

Biden compared goose-hunting restrictions to handguns, the very firearms people rely on for self-defense. It makes absolutely no sense. 

He wonders why young people have so much anxiety and want to defend themselves? It's because there are people out there who want to cause harm to others. They've seen what happens when people are unarmed. They know it takes police minutes to arrive on scene when a life and death situation can take place in a matter of seconds. 

Even if Biden wanted to make the point that "high capacity magazines" are dangerous, there are plenty of examples, like in California, where these magazines are banned yet criminals get their hands on them anyways. Gee, what a shock, right? Criminals don't follow the laws yet we should continually restrict the law-abiding to punish... the criminals? The logic is so flawed.

"High capacity magazines" are important for a number of reasons. For one, what if there's more than one or two threats? What if there are multiple people trying to attack you at the same time? It's not like you can magically split a bullet in half and shoot it at both people at once. You need multiple rounds to take down the threat.

And two, Biden doesn't take into account fight or flight. When a person is under attack, their adrenaline is pumping. People are trying to decide do they run or do they stay and fight their attacker. In those scenarios, the adrenaline makes it highly unlikely for a person to be 100 percent accurate with the very first round they shoot. That's more rounds are needed (and it's why gun owners should continually train for various situations).

Hope your donors feel your two cents was worth $2,800, crazy Uncle Joe.