In his first State of the Union, Joe Biden did nothing to dispel the widely held belief that he is ignorant of the Second Amendment in general and firearm laws in specific. Over his more than four-decade run as a politician, the man who now occupies the White House has been pegged as someone who says stupid things about guns. On Tuesday, March 1, he confirmed that assertion by making factually incorrect statements designed to mislead the public.
Thumbs Down by Fact-Checkers
The Associated Press, which has in recent years morphed from a news wire service into an advocacy journalism outlet, gave the president a thumbs down regarding one of his statements about firearms. In asking Congress to pass more gun regulations, Biden urged, “Repeal the liability shield that makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that can’t be sued, the only one.”
Ah, that would be false, and the AP actually called him out by saying:
“While gun manufacturers have legal protections that shield them from most lawsuits, this does not mean they are exempt from being sued, according to legal experts. Nor are they the only industry with such protections. For example, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers have legal shields as well.”
A case in point is the lawsuit filed by the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims. They sued Remington for alleged “wrongful marketing,” and the firearm manufacturer agreed to a $73 million settlement last month. “It is true that gun manufacturers have legal protections. But they are not exempt or immune from being sued,” the AP further chided. Other leftist media outlets such as PolitiFact and CNN also chimed in on Biden’s error.
Never one to let facts get in the way of red meat for the base, Biden went on to say, “And I will keep doing everything in my power to crack down on gun trafficking and ghost guns you can buy online and make at home—they have no serial numbers and can’t be traced.” Liberty Nation’s firearms expert James Fite responded:
“Gunsmithing is a tradition as American as any other. Americans have made their own guns since before there was a United States, and the only difference here is the technology involved. Even in the original National Firearms Act of 1934, allowances were made for home gunsmiths. Making it illegal to buy kits and ammo online is an infringement on the right to keep and bear arms. Still, it won’t stop people from making their own guns or, if they are so inclined, removing serial numbers from stolen or straw purchased guns.”
Joe Biden (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Of course, no decent anti-Second Amendment rant is worth its salt without bringing up those three words gun control advocates love to bandy about – universal background checks. Such a notion is practically impossible to enforce, but Biden never lets practicality get in the way of a good anti-gun tirade.
Unable to stop there, the man who suggests his wife “fire a shotgun in the air” to fend off burglars couldn’t resist one final snark about high-capacity magazines. “Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that hold up to 100 rounds. You think deer are wearing Kevlar vests?” the president quipped. To this, Fite shot back: “There are probably about as many hunters stalking the brush with 100-round double drum mags hanging out of their rifles as there are deer in Kevlar.”
Logic, rationality, and factually accurate information appear to have no place in Biden’s remarks concerning the right to bear arms. That he fumbles and flubs every anti-gun argument should not come as a surprise to observant Americans. After all, why should he make more sense about firearms than he does about anything else?
~ Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
