During President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, he called for a ban on so-called “assault weapons” in the United States. This issue has been brought up by his administration multiple times since he took office.
In Biden’s remarks, he praised a 26-year-old man named Brandon Tsay who disarmed a gunman last month in a shooting in Monterey Park. Tsay was working at a dance social at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio when he came face-to-face with the gunman, who had already killed people at another ballroom in the area.
“Two weeks ago, during Lunar New Year celebrations, he [Tsay] heard the studio’s front door close and saw a man pointing a gun at him,” Biden said. “In that instant, he found the courage to act and wrestle the semi-automatic pistol away from a gunman who had already killed 11 people at another dance studio.”
“He saved lives. It’s time we do the same as well,” Biden said.
“Ban assault weapons once in for all,” he added as Democrats erupted in applause.
“We did it before. I led the fight to ban them in 1994. In the 10 years the ban was law, mass shootings went down. After Republicans let it expire, mass shootings tripled. Let’s finish the job and ban assault weapons again,” Biden claimed.
Predictably, Second Amendment supporters pointed out that these types of bans on modern sporting rifles leave law-abiding citizens unable to defend themselves if a criminal obtains one. And, gun laws already in place do not deter criminals from committing violent crime.
“The only problem is criminals don’t follow the law,” Gun Owners of America wrote on Twitter in response to Biden’s remarks. “A ban would ONLY disarm law-abiding Americans and make them prime targets for criminals and tyrants.”
Gun Owners of America pointed out that gun control laws already on the books in liberal California did not prevent the Monterey Park shooting from happening.
Biden again proposes an “Assault Weapons Ban.”
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) February 8, 2023
The only problem is criminals don’t follow the law. A ban would ONLY disarm law-abiding Americans and make them prime targets for criminals and tyrants. #StateOfTheUnion pic.twitter.com/afW8ofRaY4
“This administration has made it quite clear they have no interest in protecting the right to keep and bear arms. Instead, it appears as though their primary goal is to weaponize the ATF to harass gun owners, dealers, and anyone else who supports the Second Amendment,” Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs for GOA, said.
“Since the Bruen decision, gun control laws are feeling the heat across the country, and GOF and Second Amendment advocates are making clear that these tyrannical abuses will be brought down in the courts if necessary. As we’ve been saying since the decision—fall in line, or we will make you,” Sam Paredes said on behalf of the board of the Gun Owners Foundation.
The National Rifle Association posted a video in response to Biden’s claims. In the video, mothers pointed out that when “assault weapons” were banned from 1994 to 2004, murder rates went up over 19 percent. And, the majority of crimes were not committed with a semi-automatic rifle.
“We aren’t terrorists. We aren’t the enemy. We’re the good guys,” the women said in the video.
“They’re not a criminal's weapon of choice,” they explained. “The facts are on our side. Guns save lives.”
President Joe Biden just made another push for a ban of America's most popular rifle in his State of the Union speech last night.
— NRA (@NRA) February 8, 2023
But these female gun owners and mothers aren’t buying what Joe is peddling:
“Tell that to the pregnant mother who saved her kids with an AR-15.” pic.twitter.com/hpf8mNR0Rr
As Bearing Arms pointed out, there are legal challenges to some of the “assault weapons” bans in place in New York, California, and Maryland, which could make their way up to the Supreme Court. And, a recent poll from ABC News and The Washington Post released this week showed that most Americans oppose such a ban on "assault weapons."