Joe Biden today announced executive orders for gun control in the Rose Garden, declaring “gun violence” a “public health crisis.”
We’d given a preview of what he was likely to do yesterday and it was right on target.
Biden is asking the Justice Department (DOJ), within a month, propose a rule to stop “ghost guns,” which are “kits” people can buy legally then fully assemble to create a functioning firearm that does not have a serial number.
Biden is also asking the DOJ within 60 days to propose a rule on braces used for handguns, which make them more accurate; proposing action on “community violence intervention”; asking the DOJ to publish suggestions for “red flag” legislation; and having his administration issue a report on gun trafficking.
Biden also formally announced David Chipman as the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
He then announced what he would try to push through Congress.
“Enough prayers, time for some action,” Biden said of Congress. “I believe the Senate should immediately pass three House-passed bills to close loopholes that allow gun purchases, purchasers, to bypass the background checks.”
He also pushed for two gun control laws that would go even further than that.
“We should also ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country,” Biden said. He said “there’s no reason” a person would need a weapon that can hold “one hundred rounds.”
“We should also eliminate gun manufacturers from the immunity they receive from the Congress,” Biden said, referring to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a law that prevents gunmaker from being sued for crimes committed with guns they sell legally.
But Biden was typical Biden, appearing not to know the names of the various agencies about which he was talking, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the ATF, not the AFT. The AFT is the American Federation of Teachers, the union to which Biden has been kowtowing.
Joe Biden called ATF the "AFT" and the bureau of "alkopawl" in his gun control speech. You’ll have to excuse me if I’m just a bit resistant to trusting a mentally deficient man’s view on guns. Thanks but no thanks @TheDemocrats! pic.twitter.com/hlBJYgJD3g
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 8, 2021
He tried to claim that nothing he was imposing by fiat would impinge on the Second Amendment.
.@JoeBiden introduces his gun plan:
"No amendment to the Constitution is absolute. You can't yell 'fire' in a crowded movie theater and call it freedom of speech. From the beginning, you couldn't own any weapon you wanted to own." pic.twitter.com/shOkaXmLqH
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 8, 2021
“No amendment to the Constitution is absolute. You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded movie theater and call it freedom of speech. From the beginning, you couldn’t own any weapon you wanted to own.”
This is what the government politicians say, right before they are about to impinge on your rights. The phrase about yelling fire in a crowded theater is often used by people trying to curb speech without really understanding the context in which it was used. It was in non-binding dicta in a case that was then later overturned so it was never a binding thought on anything. So when people use it, it reveals they’re not aware of the law.
As Rottman wrote, for this reason, it’s “worse than useless in defining the boundaries of constitutional speech. When used metaphorically, it can be deployed against any unpopular speech.” Worse, its advocates are tacitly endorsing one of the broadest censorship decisions ever brought down by the Court. It is quite simply, as Ken White calls it, “the most famous and pervasive lazy cheat in American dialogue about free speech.”
“Lazy cheat” excuse to impinge on your rights.
That’s exactly what House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called it.
“President Biden plans to announce his attempts to trample over our constitutional 2A rights by executive fiat. He is soft on crime, but infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens. I won’t stand for it. And neither will House Republicans. Follow the Constitution!”
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