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U.S. President Joe Biden urged Congress to act “now” to restrict gun sales in the United States.
“We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer,” Biden said after commemorating the third anniversary of the Parkland shooting.
“I call on Congress to enact common-sense gun reforms,” Biden said, calling for requiring background checks for buyers “for all gun sales,” and banning assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.
Biden knows he has the Democratic majority in the Senate, but to pass such legislation he will need at least 10 Republicans to turn in his favor.
During the election campaign, fears of increased controls by a Biden Administration drove gun sales in the face of the possibility of opening the door to a bill that would limit access to weaponry.
Biden’s plan as President of the United States is to implement a law banning assault weapons; a situation that contradicts the theory that as long as there are more legal guns there would be less violent crime.
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which dates back to 1791, enshrines the right to bear arms. However Biden’s public program states that he will seek to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to hold “manufacturers accountable.” It further states that he will take “weapons of war off the streets” and “ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity cartridges.”
“Biden will use his executive authority to ban the importation of assault weapons,” according to his action plan. The Democrat has already said that gun manufacturers are “the enemy” of Democratic Party-led gun control efforts.
According to Mark Oliva, Director of Public Affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, – a trade group that tracks and analyzes gun sales – sales in 2020 hit a record high before Election Day.
Oliva says October firearms sales were up 60% compared to the same month last year, and claims more than 17 million guns were sold during the first 10 months of 2020.
Figures in the United States already showed in 2019 that the more legal guns there are, the less violent crimes are recorded. Official data indicated that violent crimes dropped 48.6% in the country, in the same period that the record number of gun purchases was registered.
Gun sales, property rights
Recent events also show how the possession of legal weapons not only inhibits violent crime, but also allows the defense of private property and even family members. In June 2020, a video went viral showing two seniors defending their home from violent intrusions by simply carrying guns in plain sight.
On that occasion, Black Lives Matter protesters broke into a private neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri, but upon entering they were stopped by Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who were only defending their property against the threat of violent attacks against them.
Another recent development raising controversy over gun carrying arose last November 23rd when Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert requested permission from Capitol Police to carry her gun on congressional grounds.
Likewise, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also said she supported Boebert’s right to carry her gun in Congress: “Not only do I support members of Congress carrying a firearm, but I believe all Americans have that right,” Greene said in a statement.
Juan Carlos Hidalgo, an analyst of the Cato Institute, has pointed out that “there is no empirical evidence to support that more controls on gun carrying would lead to a reduction in crime”. He also indicated that “the right to bear arms is a right inherent to the right to life. If I have the right to life, I have the right to protect my life”.
Sabrina Martín Rondon is a Venezuelan journalist. Her source is politics and economics. She is a specialist in corporate communications and is committed to the task of dismantling the supposed benefits of socialism // Sabrina Martín Rondon es periodista venezolana. Su fuente es la política y economía. Es especialista en comunicaciones corporativas y se ha comprometido con la tarea de desmontar las supuestas bondades del socialismo