During a CNN town hall on Wednesday night, President Biden said that he is pushing to end the sale of pistols and rifles that have the ability to fire multiple rounds.
Biden also boasted that he passed legislation to eliminate "assault weapons."“I’m the only guy that ever got — passed legislation when I was a senator to make sure we eliminated assault weapons,” Biden said, referencing the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons ban.
The ban had no effect on firearm homicide rates or the number of mass shootings. In fact, a 2014 study found “murder rates were 19.3% higher when the Federal ban was in effect.”
“The idea you need a weapon that can have the ability to fire 20, 30, 40, 50, 120 shots from that weapon, whether it’s a, whether it’s a 9mm pistol or whether it’s a rifle, is ridiculous,” Biden said. “I’m continuing to push to eliminate the sale of those things, but I’m not likely to get that done in the near term.”
Biden has previously made false statements about the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons ban and the Second Amendment. During a speech in June, for example, Biden said the Second Amendment “from the day it was passed” included restrictions on guns.
“The Second Amendment from the day it was passed, limited the type of people who could own a gun and what type of weapon you could own. You couldn’t buy a cannon,” Biden said at the time. However, the Second Amendment places no limitations on the people, it was built to place limitations on the government by protecting the people’s right to bear arms. Additionally, for the vast majority of the history of the United States, you could, in fact, buy a cannon or any gun with no federal restrictions. It was not until 1934 when the first federal gun law was passed, and the states were not bound by the Second Amendment until the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868.
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