After the president unveiled stricter gun laws, gun rights groups threatened to take legal action against the Biden Administration.
On Tuesday, Second Amendment advocates argued that President Joe Biden's new executive order would target legal gun owners, taking away a constitutional American right.
The National Rifle Association criticized Biden's decision, pointing out that criminals, not guns, commit crimes and that the president focuses on the wrong things.
"Crimes are committed by criminals. Until President Biden and his allies decide to go after violent criminals, violence will continue to spiral out of control as it has. The focus of our laws and efforts should be on the criminal element and not on law-abiding Americans," the NRA said in a statement.
📢 NRA Statement on Biden’s Executive Order
— NRA (@NRA) March 14, 2023
Crimes are committed by criminals. Until President Biden and his allies decide to go after violent criminals, violence will continue to spiral out of control as it has. The focus of our laws and efforts should be on the criminal… https://t.co/nrP3aoagEx
Biden is expected to sign an executive order to expand background checks to more firearm sales by expanding the statutory definition of a firearms dealer. According to the White House, the executive order will bring the U.S. "as close to universal background checks as possible" without additional legislation.
Patrick Parsons, executive vice president of the American Firearms Association, said that the legislation benefits the criminal while diminishing Americans' rights to protect themselves.
"Biden's executive orders today attempting to implement a pro-criminal, anti-gun agenda show that when Joe Biden and his fellow gun-grabbers have a choice between defending the rights of law-abiding citizens or siding with violent criminals, he chooses the criminals," Parsons said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Parsons vows to "fight to overturn these tyrannical, unconstitutional dictates at the state and federal levels, as well as in the courts."
Gun Owners of America also promises to "fight back in court" against Biden's order, claiming the president is looking for any excuse to restrict law-abiding citizens from owning a firearm.
In addition, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky) pointed out that Biden traveled to a "gun-free zone" to sign the order, which is ironically still facing ravaging violent crime.
"[California has] got a higher-than-average mass public shooting per capita, and they've got some of the strictest gun laws," Massie said. "In fact, he went to Los Angeles County. Unless you're White and well-connected, you probably can't get a permit to carry a concealed firearm there," Massie said.
The Republican said that Biden's anti-gun policies are based on science fiction and won't solve a single crime.
The president went to Monterey Park, California, to rally for the legislation. But, according to Biden, it is "common sense to check whether someone is a felon, a domestic abuser before they buy a gun."