In the current environment, gun control legislation is probably an issue, but not for the reason Joe Biden’s campaign thinks. Following new riots in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the attempted execution of two police officers, the intern for Joe Biden tweeted:
Weapons of war have no place in our communities.
We need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 14, 2020
The most generous interpretation of this tweet is that gun control would have prevented the attempted assassination of two police officers in Los Angeles. For anyone who knows something about guns, this is a significant category error. The perpetrator used a handgun, and it was not apparent in the video that he had a high capacity magazine.
Meanwhile, riots erupted in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, over a police-involved shooting. Lancaster is a city of a little over 59,000 residents that has a large Amish community in the county surrounding it. The city is quite diverse, and the city council reflects this diversity. Here is a statement from the city government’s home page:
The Lancaster Police Department quickly released footage from the officer’s body camera in a very transparent move. The man who was shot, Ricardo Munoz, exited a residence and began sprinting towards a responding officer holding a knife over his head. It failed to stop the looting and property damage.
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There was looting, attempted arson, and lots of broken windows. At one point, journalist Elijah Schaffer had to stop documenting the story, because there were no police officers present:
BREAKING: looting has started in Lancaster at Villa athletic store approximately 1 hour 50 minutes ago according to the shop owner
Groups of rioters are roaming the city breaking windows and stealing merchandise
It was too dangerous to follow them since there are no police pic.twitter.com/FQIH57hccy
— ELIJAH RIOT (@ElijahSchaffer) September 14, 2020
These riots follow similar destruction in Kenosha, Wisconsin, another mid-size city. Riots there are estimated to have caused $50 million in damages. An underreported aspect of these riots is the impact they have had outside large urban centers. Journalist Michael Tracey documented the damage to smaller cities after the first wave in places such as Atlantic City, NJ, Fort Wayne, IN, Green Bay, WI, and Olympia, WA.
More recently, there have been reports of Portland rioters and Seattle BLM protestors going to residential areas and the suburbs. Damage and crime sprees in the Buckhead area of Atlanta and communities outside downtown Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City has also been documented.
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All of these areas are residential and violence made local residents more aware that living outside of the city is not a barrier to Peaceful Protests™. Between COVID-19 and the summer of rage, gun sales continue to break records. According to reports, 13.5 million firearms have been purchased in the first eight months of 2020.
It’s not just 2nd Amendment enthusiasts purchasing guns. Experts are saying 40% of these firearms are going to first-time buyers. Commentators Tim Poole and Dave Rubin, who supported gun control legislation in the past, have both publicly shared they have purchased them for the first time. They are evidence of a significant trend.
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Biden’s response to these violent outbreaks has been weak at best. He has failed to condemn Black Lives Matter and antifa for driving the anti-police rhetoric and inciting violence. Even his response to the attempted murder of deputies in Los Angeles granted the premise these groups push. Biden’s statement talked about police needing to serve with “honor, restraint, and accountability.” As if that needs to be said for the vast majority of officers in the country.
Meanwhile, his gun safety proposals will ban the manufacture and sale of AR-15s and require all existing owners to register under the National Firearms Act. Each registration will cost $200 according to current forms. You will be fingerprinted and have to make a copy for your local police department. This would also be true for so-called “high capacity magazines.” As one Twitter user put it:
What this means for you: Under Joe Biden's proposal, if you intend to keep the three 15-round magazines that came with your Glock 19, you will need to pay $600 while giving all of the above-mentioned information to the ATF and your state/local police.
— Rob (@2Aupdates) July 17, 2020
So, in reality, this is not merely about scary-looking black rifles. Instead, it a mechanism by which anyone possessing a handgun with what was once a standard magazine will be on a national gun registry. If you choose not to register your firearm or magazine or can’t afford to, it will be “bought back” by the government in a buyback program.
The Biden administration would also end the online sales of firearms, ammunition, kits, and gun parts. This prohibition would occur while the radical left pressures major retailers to stop selling guns and ammunition. So technically, you may have your 2nd Amendment right. Exercising it will be another matter.
In an era of escalating crime, political violence, and spontaneous riots, the Biden campaign believes punishing legal gun owners is the correct answer. All while major metropolitan areas are slashing police budgets in response to Black Lives Matter’s “Defund the Police” movement. It is nearly guaranteed that if the man who shot the deputies in Los Angeles is caught and the firearm is recovered, as in most cases, his possession of the gun will turn out to be illegal.
Joe Biden and his Democratic Party are trying to ensure the bad guys can outgun you, and the police can’t respond as effectively as they do now. These policies are a recipe for disaster.
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