Joe Biden's gun-control plan: Gun-rights group says law-abiding Americans must be protected, not criminalized
President Joe Biden has pledged to bring in an effective gun-control measure, something that has kept the US split over the Second Amendment over the years but pro-gun groups are not happy with his plan. One gun-rights organization has expressed concern that Biden’s gun-control proposal would potentially see 105 million law-abiding gun owners being tagged as criminals.
In a letter penned to the president in which his ‘common-sense gun safety policies’ is referred to, the US Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) said: “While we can agree that there are several ‘common sense’ and long overdue changes needed to our nation’s gun laws, we firmly believe that the path forward should be focused on supporting and protecting responsible, law-abiding Americans — not criminalizing and punishing them.”
The Wisconsin-based group, whose membership has reached 550,000 in recent years, called the government’s patchwork of concealed carry laws “antiquated” and that it is putting the law-abiding Americans at risk.
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On its website, the group says: “The US Concealed Carry Association exists to help responsible Americans avoid danger, save lives, and keep their families safe, and we believe that our elected leaders in Washington have an incredible obligation to pursue these same goals.” The group was critical of Biden’s calling for gun control at the third anniversary of the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 were killed.
“This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer. Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets,” Biden said on the occasion.
Tim Schmidt, the president of USCCA who wrote the letter, also touched upon other issues including taxes, and said the way to stop criminals is by arming people and training them to use defensive weapons. He also initiated a petition seeking national concealed carry reciprocity which got 100,000 signatures.
'Record number of Americans purchasing firearms'
The letter also cited the fact that more Americans are buying weapons for safety, saying “record numbers of Americans have been purchasing firearms to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” and that “women and minorities are now leading the way as the fastest-growing groups of concealed carry permit holders in the country”.
“The US Concealed Carry Association exists to help responsible Americans avoid danger, save lives and keep their families safe, and we believe that our elected leaders in Washington have an incredible obligation to pursue these same goals. National concealed carry reciprocity — not higher taxes or more stringent regulations on already responsible gun owners, and certainly not removing the means by which those responsible gun owners can defend themselves and their loved ones — is a truly ‘common sense’ reform that will help more Americans keep their families safe,” Schmidt added.
Schmidt's organization is not the only one taking on Biden’s gun control plans. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, national trade association for the firearms industry based in Connecticut, slammed the Dems’ plans to get rid of liability protections for gun-manufacturers — something many fear would be detrimental for the jobs-rich industry, the Washington Examiner reported.
The Examiner report said: “Biden’s efforts, backed by legislation proposed in the House, come as the sale of firearms has reached a peak and at a time when there are historic levels of new gun owners, especially African Americans and women.
“Biden was an originator of the 1994 ban on “assault weapons”, semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15. Since the ban ended, the guns have become the nation’s top seller with hunters and plinkers. He has blamed the guns for shooting deaths while others have cited the mental issues of shooters.”
Meanwhile, sources in the White House have said that Biden is even ready to take on the National Rifle Association, the largest gun-rights group which is also a very powerful one. “But I will say that the president is somebody, throughout his career, who has advocated for smart gun, smart gun safety measures. He is not afraid of standing up to the NRA — he has done it multiple times,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier in February.