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Biden's gun control plan: Ex-VP says 'as president, I'll take on NRA', Internet says you'll never be elected

The presidential candidate in the 1990s was instrumental in getting both federal background checks and a 10-year assault weapon ban enacted

The political battle is just getting intense every day in the US. President Donald Trump is in the news and trending on Twitter most of the time. His Democratic Party opponent Joe Biden is also not far behind when it comes to using social media to put forward a point to the voters. In his latest tweet, Biden says, "26 years ago today, the Senate passed 10-year bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines — it was an effort I was proud to champion. These bans saved lives, and Congress should have never let them expire. As president, I'll take on the @NRA and we’ll ban them once again."

A lot of people put forward their views in the comments section of this tweet. One user claimed, "Studies have shown the ban has had little effect on overall criminal activity, firearm homicides, and the lethality of gun crimes." One stated, "This is why we will vote against you in droves." Trump supporter Jason Alexander Roberge said, "You will never ever be elected with an anti 2nd Amendment platform DURING RIOTS AND ANARCHY." 

US House candidate Richard Castaldo said, "You will lose if you come in preaching gun control of any kind to the general public! We value our inherent rights and responsibilities." One said, "I laughed way too hard at this.. Had absolutely no impact on crime, and violent crime actually went up.. But ok." Another user pointed out, "Not so long ago, angry mobs were burning and looting while a certain political party was saying 'Defund the police.' Media called them 'peaceful protesters' A short time before that, this same party told you that you did not need guns because, you had the police to protect you."

There were others who supported Biden. One said, "THANK YOU Can't wait for reasonable gun restrictions." Another stated, "Thank you Joe! This gun owning, 2nd amendment supporting family agrees. It needs to be reinstated and strict background checks are needed. Voting Biden/Harris enthusiastically!"

Joe Biden and gun control

The presidential candidate in the 1990s was instrumental in getting both federal background checks and a 10-year assault weapon ban enacted, as per Vox. He did mention earlier that he has "taken on the National Rifle Association (NRA) on the national stage and won — twice".

Recently, as per WGAL, NRA released a 30-second ad that shows a woman being chased by two men in a parking lot. When she tried to retrieve a gun from her car, the weapon disappears. The voiceover says, "She's got two kids and two jobs, but tonight she may not make it home. Every woman has a right to self-defense, a gun for protection. But Joe Biden would take her rights away." However, as noted in the report, Biden has not stated that he wants to take away anyone's Second Amendment right to own a gun but has a plan to regulate it.

Biden's presidential campaign does include a gun control plan. It features universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, more efforts toward the enforcement of existing gun laws, a push for the development of ‘smart guns’ (the inserted technology allows only authorized users to fire them), and incentives for states to adopt ‘red flag’ laws, which lets courts seize guns from people considered a risk to themselves or others and develop gun-licensing systems, as reported by Vox. His campaign website lists a detailed gun control plan.

The list includes that gun manufacturers will be held accountable. It is explained in his website as, "In 2005, then-Senator Biden voted against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, but gun manufacturers successfully lobbied Congress to secure its passage. This law protects these manufacturers from being held civilly liable for their products – a protection granted to no other industry. Biden will prioritize repealing this protection."

Some of the other points in the agenda include limiting the number of guns an individual can purchase to one per month, safe storage of guns, finance strategies to combat urban violence and fund more research into preventing gun violence, as reported by Vox. As per the report, Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren had proposed a federal licensing system that would require everyone in the US to obtain a license to buy and own firearms. However, the former VP’s plan only includes financial incentives for states that choose to adopt it – they can decline it as well.

The report says, Biden has expressed his reservations for licensing, saying it "will not change whether or not people buy what weapons — what kinds of weapons they can buy, where they can use them, how they can store them." However, as stated by Vox, research shows that licensing is one of the more effective ways to reduce gun deaths, more so than universal background checks or an assault weapons ban. As per Vox, a Johns Hopkins study on several gun control approaches, including universal background checks, found that licensing systems were the one policy associated with fewer firearm homicides.

Mass shootings and more gun violence have been a problem in the US for a long time. And Democrats have support to act on gun control — with recent support coming from movements like March for Our Lives, which was formed after the 2018 Parkland school shooting in which a gunman killed 17 people and injured 17 others, as per Vox. While a lot of promises are made by candidates during their campaigns, it only holds if they are acted upon and implemented. It will be interesting to see if Biden gets elected, where will gun control feature in his list of priorities.