The timing of the Boulder Colorado shooting works to the Biden administration’s benefit or at least, they’re going to use it to pursue stricter gun-laws. Biden was already preparing to push anti-gun laws and the House already passed two bills this month to tighten gun control, one that would give authorities 10 business days instead of three to complete a background check before a gun sale. Under current law, gun sales can proceed if a background check takes longer than three days, what’s known as the “Charleston Loophole.” That bill passed 219-210 with only two Republicans supporting it.
Another bill would expand background check requirements to guns bought over the internet, at gun shows or through other private transactions. Eight Republicans joined Democrats in backing the bill.
With the recent shootings, Biden is now considering pushing executive orders to force gun control without the GOP vote. His own Press Secretary, Jen Psaki alluded to as much:
“We are considering a range of levers, including working through legislation, including executive action,” Psaki told reporters. “That has been under discussion and will continue to be under discussion.”
After admitting he ‘doesn’t know all the details,’ Biden still blamed guns for the shooting and called on Congress to “ban assault weapons” and “high-capacity magazines.”
21-Year-Old Ahmad Al-Issa killed 10 ten people including 51-year-old police officer Eric Talley on Monday during a shooting spree at a King Sooper’s grocery store, reports show. The media jumped to tie Al-Issa to the Conservative party and went as far as to declare him another ‘dangerous white terrorist’ before the facts were in. We now know that Al-Issa was a raging anti-Trump Democrat.
Last week, a mass shooting in Atlanta left a total of 8 people dead, including 6 Asian women.
The suspect, a white male, told police he is a sex addict and he wanted to “eliminate locations he saw as ‘temptations’ for his sex addiction.”
“I got that done as a senator. It brought down mass shootings, we can do it again,” Biden said during remarks at the White House. “We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again.”
“These are bills that received votes with both Republicans and Democrats in the House. This is not and should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue that will save lives, American lives. And we have to act. We should also ban assault weapons in the process,” Biden said.
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-sense steps that will save lives in the future. And to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act. We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again,” Biden said.
According to Daily Wire, The House and Senate have no gun bans pending, however. The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently holding hearings to determine whether there is a future for gun control legislation in Congress, but Democrats hold only a narrow Senate majority, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the key swing vote, largely sides with Republicans on gun rights issues.
It is also not clear what Biden could accomplish on the issue of gun control through executive action. Executive actions are tricky, and one that would curb an explicit constitutional right would be trickier still. Previously, the White House has proposed very limited executive orders on guns, specifically orders requiring background checks for home-made, 3D printed, or makeshift guns known as “ghost guns.”