On Thursday, Joe Biden announced further executive actions on the subject of gun control, saying “Enough prayers, time for some action.”
During the announcement, Biden delivered a speech riddled with false and misleading claims. Let’s debunk some of the most egregious claims Biden made during his short statement.
Biden parrots the “gun show loophole” lie
“These bills, one, require background checks for anyone purchasing a gun at a gun show, or an online sale,” Biden said, which triggered applause from the audience.
“Most people don’t know it, you walk into a store and you buy a gun, you have a background check. But you go to a gun show, you can buy whatever you want, and no background check.”
Joe Biden lies, claiming that you can buy a gun at a gun show without a background check. pic.twitter.com/7IhUJWHrbP
— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) April 8, 2021
This is one of the most prevalent and misleading falsehoods promulgated by the Left when it comes to gun control. Federally licensed gun sellers are required, by law, to run background checks on all firearm purchases, whether at a gun show or in their gun store.
Unlicensed private individuals are permitted to sell guns without running a background check, but this is the case regardless of their location.
Biden falsely claims that “his” assault weapon and high-capacity magazine ban reduced mass shootings
“I know this has been a hobby horse of mine for a long time. Got it done once,” Biden said. “We should also ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country.”
“For that 10 years we had it done, the number of mass shootings actually went down,” Biden claimed.
Biden claims that “For that 10 years we had [assault weapon and high-capacity magazine ban] done, the number of mass shootings actually went down.” This is not true. pic.twitter.com/3oecOFNv07
— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) April 8, 2021
As Katie Pavlich wrote in March 2021 for Townhall in a piece titled “Fact Check the Left: Did a Clinton Era Gun Ban ‘Bring Down Mass Killings’ as Biden Claims?” this is simply false.
Not only is this period too small a sample size to reach any statistically significant conclusions, but the average number of mass shootings per year before and during the “Assault Weapons Ban” didn’t change, staying at 1.5 events per year.
Biden argues that stabilizing braces make weapons more lethal
“We want to treat pistols, modified with stabilizing braces, with the seriousness they deserve,” Biden said. “A stabilizing brace […] essentially makes that pistol a hell of a lot more accurate and a mini-rifle. As a result, it’s more lethal. Effectively, turning it into a short-barreled rifle.”
“That’s what the alleged shooter in Boulder appears to have done,” he added.
Joe Biden just claimed adding a "stabilizing brace" to an AR-pistol makes it "more lethal."
This is literally not true and one of the most insane things I've ever heard on the topic of guns. pic.twitter.com/yw8RjBTNbv
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) April 8, 2021
The lethality of the firearm is the key part here, given that the stability of the gun after being fired (which is the purpose of the stabilizing brace) has no effective impact on the bullet fired or its deadliness.
Biden misleads with claim that gun violence is an epidemic
“Gun violence in this country is an epidemic,” Biden claimed. “Let me say it again. Gun violence in this country is an epidemic.”
While there is subjectivity in the term “epidemic,” Biden’s use of the word implies a massive increase in gun violence. In reality, rates of gun violence have not increased, with statistics showing that “as gun ownership has increased, the rate of firearm homicides has steadily declined since a brief spike in the early 1990s.”
Joe Biden misleads on the First Amendment
According to Biden, “You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded movie theater and call it freedom of speech.”
This claim is routinely parroted by members of the Left while attempting to pick holes in the First Amendment. Unfortunately for them, it’s a false claim.
As described by Nashwa Gewaily, a media and First Amendment lawyer, the ‘crowded theater’ argument originated from an Oliver Wendell Holmes opinion in the 1919 Supreme Court case, Schenck vs. United States. “Schenck never amounted to any kind of binding standard or doctrine. It was basically a bit of emotionally charged extra flair from Justice Holmes, outside the official legal determination of that case; a powerful image that endured outside its context … It was not a high point in American jurisprudence.”
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.