President Biden on Monday spoke out against the ownership of what he called “high-caliber weapons” – seemingly suggesting that there should be restrictions on America’s most popular weapon, the 9mm pistol, and repeating a previously denied claim that the Second Amendment prohibits gun ownership.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House after returning to Washington for a weekend that included a visit to the site of last week’s mass shooting in Texas, Biden described a visit to a New York trauma hospital. where he said that doctors had shown him X-rays of bullet wounds caused by various firearms.
“They said a .22 caliber bullet would be lodged in the lungs and we could probably get it out, maybe we could get it and save our lives,” Biden said. “A 9mm bullet ejects the lung from the body.
“So the idea of these high-caliber weapons is, eh, there’s just no rational basis for thinking about self-protection, hunting,” the president continued.
Later in his statement, Biden seemed to rule out the possibility of taking major enforcement action on weapons, saying, “I can’t dictate these things. I can do the things I’ve done and any executive action I can take, I will continue to take. But no I can’t ban a gun. I can’t, you know, change background checks. I can’t do that. “
Joe and Jill Biden pay their respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School.AP
Biden’s statements about 9mm pistols are in line with his rhetoric before entering the White House. At a 2019 fundraiser in Seattle, for example, then-candidate Biden asked his audience: “Why should we allow people to have military-style weapons, including 9mm bullets and can contain 10 or more rounds? “
According to Shooting Industry magazine, 9mm pistols accounted for 56.8% of all U.S.-made pistols in 2019. In total, more than 15.1 million 9mm pistols were produced during the 2010 decade. mm in this country. The possibility of banning or otherwise regulating these weapons is likely not a principle between conservatives and gun rights advocates.
“Remember that the Constitution, the Second Amendment, was never absolute,” Biden said. “You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed. You couldn’t go out and buy a lot of weapons.”
Biden appears to have ruled out executive action on arms control. AFP via Getty Images
Biden has made this claim before, most recently when he announced new regulations to stop the spread of so-called “ghost weapons,” and fact-checkers have repeatedly declared them false.
“The Second Amendment did not put limits on the individual ownership of the guns,” PolitiFact said in April when it called its claim false.
The website reads:
Despite widespread public outrage over Tuesday’s massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and the May 14 mass shooting for racial reasons at a Buffalo grocery store, Biden said he had not yet spoken to any Republicans about possible arms control legislation, but expressed hope. for a compromise.
“I think things have gone so badly that everyone is becoming more rational about it,” he said. “At least that’s my hope and prayer.”
When asked if Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Authorizing Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to work with Democrats could work, Biden said “I don’t know.”
“I think Senator McConnell is a rational Republican. I think Cornyn is too,” he added. “I think there’s a recognition on their part that they, we can’t go on like this. We can’t do that.”
Without Republican support, Democrats are powerless to pass any gun legislation in the Senate 50-50 unless they manage to temporarily set aside the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold to pass most bills.
Biden called Mitch McConnell a “rational Republican.” Getty Images
Biden’s comments came less than 48 hours after Vice President Kamala Harris called for a ban on assault weapons after attending a funeral for Buffalo shooting victim Ruth Whitfield, 86.
“Do you know what an assault weapon is? Do you know how an assault weapon was designed? Harris said Saturday.” It was designed for a specific purpose: to kill many humans quickly. An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place in civil society. “