Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

State Attorneys General to Biden on “Assault Weapon” Ban: Nope, Nada, Not Having It

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

State Attorneys General to Biden on “Assault Weapon” Ban: Nope, Nada, Not Having It

Following his State of the Union (SOTU) speech earlier this month, in which President Joe Biden yelled, “Band [sic] ‘assault weapons’ now!”, the president predictably included the same demand last week in remarks at the National Association of Counties legislative conference. “I’m gonna say something that’s always controversial but there is no rationale for assault weapons and magazines that hold 50, 70 bullets. Got it done once. Gonna do it again.”  

A day later, sixteen state Attorneys General, led by Austin Knudsen, the Montana Attorney General, penned a blunt letter to the president in response to his “unconstitutional and irresponsible demand that Congress ban firearms commonly used by law-abiding Americans for self-defense.” The five-page document meticulously dismantles Biden’s rhetoric on “assault weapons” and schools the president on how astonishingly wrong he is in proclaiming that “[t]he idea we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick …It has no, no social redeeming value.”    

Americans own approximately 100 million semiautomatic handguns and 45 million semiautomatic rifles. The “staggeringly broad” definition of “assault weapon” personally employed by Joe Biden would include every semi-automatic firearm. “Thus, when Americans hear that you plan to come after our so-called ‘assault weapons,’ we brace ourselves for an attack on ordinary, safe, and highly effective weapons commonly used for self and home defense.”

Citing a CDC study commissioned while Biden was Vice President, the letter notes that statistics support the widespread use of firearms in self defense. Not only is “[d]efensive use of guns by crime victims … a common occurrence,” but “the successful use of guns in self-defense dwarfs the number of injuries and deaths from guns under any circumstance—including crimes, accidents, and self-inflicted injuries.” “[U]ses of guns for self-defense also outnumber the uses of guns in crimes themselves.” Moreover, the same study, the writers point out, shows that “a crime victim who uses a gun in self-defense is much safer than an unarmed crime victim.”

Biden oft-repeated assertion that the 1994 federal “assault weapon” ban (which he championed) reduced mass shootings “is also unsupportable,” as two separate studies by the federal Department of Justice “found no discernible effect on violent crime from that legislation.”

The letter zeroes in on the case of Brandon Tsay, the hero who disarmed an active shooter in Monterey Park, California, and the president’s “cynical” use of the incident during his SOTU address. Biden recognized the bravery of Mr. Tsay while, in the same breath, demanding stricter gun laws (“He saved lives. It’s time we do the same. Ban assault weapons now. Ban them now. Once and for all.”).  Mr. Tsay was himself unfortunately unarmed, and the letter notes that “[f]ar from empowering heroes like Mr. Tsay, your policies would disarm them, turning everyday heroes into additional victims of deranged killers.” Biden’s highlighting of this incident “suffers from another glaring problem,” as the weapon involved was already banned under California’s draconian gun control laws, establishing that an assault weapon ban “was obviously ineffective in preventing the shooting.” “[Y]ou politicized the Monterey Park tragedy to demand that Congress pass one policy (a federal ‘assault weapons’ ban) that California’s identical policy (a state ‘assault weapons’ ban) had already failed to prevent.”       

After demolishing the case for an assault weapon ban using facts and statistics, the Attorneys General turned to the law. The “right to keep and bear arms is one of the most fundamental and deeply rooted liberties in our constitutional tradition.”  Last year, “the Supreme Court reaffirmed that the Second Amendment protects ‘the carrying of weapons that are … ‘in common use at the time.’’ Semiautomatic pistols and rifles ‘are indisputably in ‘common use’ for self-defense today.” Indeed, semiautomatic handguns are ‘the quintessential self-defense weapon.’ There is ‘no justification for laws restricting the public carry of weapons that are unquestionably in common use today.”

The letter puts the president on notice that these chief law enforcement officials will oppose, with “every tool at our disposal…your attempt to trample on Americans’ fundamental right to defend themselves.”

The NRA-ILA applauds Attorney General Knudsen and his fellow attorneys general for defending the Second Amendment and their stand against yet another ineffective, delusional and “patently unconstitutional” encroachment on the rights of ordinary, responsible Americans.

TRENDING NOW
Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes General Assembly and Semi-Auto Ban Temporarily Removed from Calendar

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes General Assembly and Semi-Auto Ban Temporarily Removed from Calendar

In a temporary reprieve for Colorado gun owners, the semi-auto ban HB24-1292 has been removed from the calendar. But we cannot let our guard down as gun control advocates can bring it up for a vote at ...

The U.S. Supreme Court Looks at Government “Blacklists”

News  

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court Looks at Government “Blacklists”

Much of the attention this past week in the United States Supreme Court was the oral arguments in National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, No. 22-842, a First Amendment case on whether government officials ...

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Passes Committee and Sensitive Places Bill Hearing Rescheduled for Today!

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Passes Committee and Sensitive Places Bill Hearing Rescheduled for Today!

Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on House Bill 24-1292, the semi-auto ban, that lasted over 12 hours where hundreds of patriotic Coloradans overloaded the committee with opposition testimony. The hearing concluded with an ...

NRA Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Hear Antonyuk v. James

News  

Second Amendment  

Monday, March 25, 2024

NRA Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Hear Antonyuk v. James

In response to the NRA’s victory in Bruen, which secured every American’s right to carry arms, NY passed the “Concealed Carry Improvement Act,” severely restricting carry throughout the state. The 2nd Circuit upheld many of ...

25 years and one PLCAA Later, Chicago is Still Harassing Gunmakers

News  

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

25 years and one PLCAA Later, Chicago is Still Harassing Gunmakers

On March 19, the city of Chicago filed suit against handgun manufacturer Glock. Seeking to shift responsibility for the city’s woeful governance, Chicago’s lawsuit blames the popular firearm manufacturer for the third-party criminal misuse of ...

Washington: Governor Signs Anti-Gun Legislation

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Washington: Governor Signs Anti-Gun Legislation

Today, Governor Inslee signed five anti-gun bills into law that were recently passed by the Washington State Legislature. The bills include:

Anti-gun Democrats Seek to Undermine Law Passed to Protect Veterans’ Rights

News  

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Anti-gun Democrats Seek to Undermine Law Passed to Protect Veterans’ Rights

Last week we reported on a major breakthrough on behalf of veterans who risked losing their Second Amendment rights because of a long-running scheme by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report certain beneficiaries ...

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled for Floor Vote Today!

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Scheduled for Floor Vote Today!

Today, the House is scheduled to vote on HB24-1292, the ban on semi-automatic firearms. Please contact your legislators today by using the button below and urge them to OPPOSE HB24-1292!

Louisiana: Firearms Bills on the Move - Take Action Now!

Monday, March 25, 2024

Louisiana: Firearms Bills on the Move - Take Action Now!

A number of firearm-related bills, including enhanced preemption, are moving in the Louisiana Legislature. It's critical that NRA members and Second Amendment supporters get involved to keep the momentum going!

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Passes Full Inclusion Sunday Hunting

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Passes Full Inclusion Sunday Hunting

On Wednesday, the Senate Game & Fisheries Committee voted 7-4 to pass Senate Bill 67 to the Senate floor for a vote. 

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.