White House Cleans Up Biden's Position on Banning Handguns

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that President Biden does not support a ban on handguns.

The clarification comes after the president made eyebrow-raising remarks about guns on Memorial Day when he told reporters “a 9mm bullet blows the lung out of the body."

Biden then claimed "there's simply no rational basis for [high-caliber weapons] in terms of thinking about self-protection, hunting."

"The 9mm bullet blows the lung out of the body." - President Joe Biden

Will the fact checkers be flagging his comment as misinformation? pic.twitter.com/fFPPf7Cv44

— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) May 30, 2022

So they’re ditching the whole “assault weapon” shtick this time and coming straight for 9mm handguns? https://t.co/g1W9R3RHo0

— Josh Hammer (@josh_hammer) May 30, 2022

Of course he's coming for handguns, too. https://t.co/Wnr1K2bxIU

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 30, 2022

Fox News's Peter Doocy sought to understand whether, then, he'd support a measure similar to the legislation Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advanced that puts a "national freeze on handguns."

In case you missed it: We introduced legislation earlier today that, if passed in Parliament, will further strengthen Canada’s gun control laws. For more on what that means and why we’re taking these steps, watch this video and click this link: https://t.co/BYcdjI2mHe pic.twitter.com/2slVfkm6gY

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 31, 2022

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Jean-Pierre made clear he only intends to target semi-automatic sporting rifles.

"He supports a ban on sales of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and expanded background checks to keep guns out of dangerous hands," she said. "He does not support a ban on the sale of all handguns."

She said he will consider what type of executive action he can take but that Congress needs to move on gun control. 

"He wants to make sure there's action," Jean-Pierre said. "The president has made this one of his priorities from the first day that he walked into this administration and now he's calling on Congress to act."