AP Photo/Matt Slocum
Former Vice President Joe Biden is currently the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president. Thats not really surprising since hes a former vice president and was part of the Obama administration, which Democrats seem to view as a positive for some insane reason. However, if he wanted to keep that status, hes going to have to beat the anti-gun war drum.
Luckily for him, he was ready to do just that.
Former Vice President Joe Biden pledged on Tuesday to defeat the National Rifle Association as part of his 2020 campaign promise to fight for school safety.
As President, he will secure passage of gun legislation to make our students safer, and he knows he can do it because hes defeated the National Rifle Association twice before, Bidens plan, released on Tuesday, read.
It stated part of the plan to defeat the NRA included supporting legislation that banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
His plan came after a slew of school shootings that prompted Democrats to call for gun control laws. Bidens planned seemed more moderate than other 2020 candidates specifically Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., in that he focused on working through Congress rather than substantially expanding executive authority in the ways others proposed doing.
Of course, Biden didnt mention that we had an assault weapon ban for a decade and it accomplished jack squat.
He should know. He was part of the Congress that passed it. He was also there when the measure sunset and discussions were had about possibly renewing the law. It was pointed out then that the law didnt do anything.
At the time, anti-gunners pointed to a decrease in the crime rate and tried to claim credit for it. The problem was, the crime rate had been dropping for years before the assault weapon ban and continued at the same rate after the ban went into effect. Further, that crime rate continued to drop after the ban sunset.
In other words, it didnt do a damn thing.
Now, either Biden knows this, in which case hes pandering, or he doesnt, which means hes an idiot. Of course, pandering doesnt preclude stupidity.
If theres at least one good thing about Bidens proposals, though, is that hes at least acknowledging the limits of executive power. Ifwere going to get saddled with federal gun control laws, they have to come through Congress. Thats how the Constitution lays out the legislative process. Congress passes laws, the president signs and enforces those laws. Presidents dont get to make them up all on their own.
Further, as noted in the quote above, Bidens proposal is less bombastic, more moderate. Thats likely to play better with more moderate members of the party, voters who are feeling more and more alienated by the liberal extremism thats taking hold of the Democratic Party. These are voters who dont like assault weapons typically but also arent as interested in radically changing the firearm landscape.
Not that what Biden is proposing is really any better. Gun control is gun control and we dont need any of it.
It should be interesting to see what kind of role gun control plays in the primary process, though. We can learn an awful lot about the hearts and minds of Democrats in the process.
