President Joe Biden seems to be following the only mantra he knows when it comes to confronting America’s rising crime worries. Go after the Second Amendment and the firearm industry that makes the exercise of the right possible.
Gang violence? More gun control. Spiraling crime? We must need more gun control. Repeat offenders committing crimes within hours of no-bail release? Gun control.
President Biden’s been straw-man blaming the firearm industry for decades, but he went at it in earnest in 2019 when he declared during the Democratic presidential debates, “Our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the NRA, the gun manufacturers.”
It’s as if the White House’s crime plan is written on the back of a shampoo bottle.
President Biden’s so confident in this idea, he invited police and city leaders to the White House earlier this week to discuss a “Comprehensive Strategy to Reduce Gun Crimes.”
“While there’s no ‘one-size-fit-all’ approach, we know there are some things that work, and the first of those that work is stemming the flow of firearms used to commit violent crimes,” President Biden said to media gathered at the beginning of the conference. “And it includes cracking down on holding rogue gun dealers accountable for violating the federal law.”
He included additional nebulous and ill-defined agenda items, such as creating strike forces to target illegal gun trafficking, despite the fact they already exist and are perennially underfunded. The president avoided talk of police de-funding and instead pushed plans to siphon recovery funds to fill the gaps where city officials abandoned their own citizens and struggling police departments.
The third part is to rely on “community violence interrupters” without defining who or what that means. Sounds like a new career option for “community organizers.” He’d increase mental health resources and job training. The final part is to give convicts job training.
“And this is going to help prevent crime and support young people to pick up a paycheck instead of a pistol,” President Biden said.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Catching Actual Criminals?
What he didn’t say was how the White House was going to confront criminals who are preying on innocent Americans. Instead, it’s all gun control, all the time. Never the criminal — the actual problem.
Fox News reported the president already launched a “zero tolerance” policy against gun dealers he considers rogue. The president wants to hold firearm retailers that “willfully” transfer a firearm to a prohibited individual accountable.
No one wants firearms in the hands of prohibited individuals. That’s why the firearm industry has several partnership programs with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to prevent exactly that under the Real Solutions campaign.
It’s an exceedingly rare exception when a firearm retailer abuses a license and the firearm industry wants them to be held accountable.
The White House, however, gave early clues during the campaign that attacking the industry and not the criminals was their goal. During the campaign, the Biden-Harris ticket embraced a policy of using the ATF as a bludgeon against firearm retailers, threatening to yank licenses of retailers and manufacturers for minor clerical errors. The president’s nomination of the gun control lobbyist David Chipman to run the ATF is installing his man to execute that plan.
The Department of Justice’s own studies show retailers are following the law. The Bureau of Justice Statistics studies show that over 90 percent of convicted criminals that used a firearm in their crime obtain them through illicit means, mostly through theft or the black market.
That’s not a “rogue” retailer issue. That’s a criminal issue.
Americans Embrace Guns
Americans agree. A Washington Post poll found that 59 percent of Americans believe crime is a very serious problem. Meanwhile, support for new gun control laws is cratering to record lows, as Newsweek reported earlier this year.
Americans are acting on those convictions. There were 21 million background checks for the sale of a gun last year. Over 8.4 million people, according to NSSF retailer survey estimates, purchased a gun for the first time.
Gun sales to African-Americans were up 58 percent. Hispanic-Americans bought guns at a 47 percent increased rate and Asian-Americans bought them at a 43 percent rate higher in 2020 than in 2019. Those trends are continuing.
President Biden’s gun control supporters are echoing his myopic distortion of focusing on eliminating gun rights for those who abide by the law. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told media, “We have more guns in this nation than anyone who wrote the Second Amendment could ever have envisioned.”
He rattled off falsehoods about gun sales, claiming that guns are sold over the internet, when in fact, all retail firearm sales must be completed in a face-to-face transaction with an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification. In Sen. Durbin’s home state, there are among the strictest gun control laws, but among the highest crime rates.
Sen. Durbin doesn’t have an excess of guns. He’s got an excess of criminals.
Get Serious
That’s exactly what former Detroit Police Chief James Craig has been saying. Law-abiding gun owners aren’t the problem. It’s criminals run amok and no willingness by the federal, state, or local governments, including George Soros-funded District Attorneys, to take on the hard work of reigning them in.
“We don’t have a gun problem in America. What we have is a criminal problem…criminals don’t follow the law,” Craig said according to a Townhall.com report. “They’re going to get guns, so what do we want to focus on? Getting guns from law-abiding citizens?… it’s not about guns, it’s about criminals who have guns and they don’t get the guns legally. That’s the bottom line.”
Craig explained that the failing policies embraced by President Biden including no-bail policies, allowing police to be scapegoated for political ineptness and “de-fund the police” policies are emboldening criminals.
Focusing on gun control instead of arresting criminals won’t clean up America’s crime problem. It’s just lather, rinse, repeat.
Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
I know what is needed for stupid demotator’s – birth control for their parents.
always the gun…never the gunman…they never seem to deviate from that poorly chosen path
Fix the economy so everyone get’s their labor’s worth (i.e. a living wage and then some) so there are no more orphans of the American Dream.
Then you greatly reduce the “desperation” and “hopeless” factor driving so much of the crime.
Not gonna happen in a hegemonic plutocracy, though.
America hasn’t truly been a capitalist country since the early 1900’s before Woodrow Wilson and FDR soundly killed it.
“greatly reduce the “desperation” and “hopeless” factor driving so much of the crime”
dunno. most violent street crime seems to be driven by drug trafficking and “homie disresPECT me” and “jus’ doin’ what I gotsta DO”. not much desperation or hopelessness there.
“living wage” – commie pinko BS
Amen to that.
The dismal failing of the idea that workers are owed some magical and ephemeral ‘living wage’ is due to it being based upon the absolute fallacy that every worker’s labor is equal to every other–you know, ‘equity.’ If workers were actually paid for the ‘worth’ of their labor, a substantial number of people being paid ‘minimum wage’ would be promptly paid far less.
As to the United States being a capitalist country, it is the closest thing to full capitalism ever in history, even to the present day; It is, however, rapidly coming to resemble a true fascist state, with Government and Big Business marching arm in arm to gain full control of society and the economy, aided by a pliant media.
“…being based upon the absolute fallacy that every worker’s labor is equal to every other–you know, ‘equity.’ ”
Expect to hear a lot more of that in the future.
The only problem is, those that produce more are going to have a very big problem being forced to hand it over to those who don’t.
Like the mantra of “Health care for all”. Doctors are going to have a very big problem with being forced to care for people for a pittance of what their normal patients wold pay them. Piss them off enough to the point they will leave start to leave the doctoring business entirely.
Leftist scum haven’t figured out yet how to deal with fewer doctors being asked to do more work.
I suppose they can do like they did with public education and keep lowering the passing grades for medical degrees. Yeah, people aren’t gonna like that one bit… 🙂
Oh shush you commie pinko meathead.
you..(or they)…need to accept the fact some people are just inherently evil….
Most crime has nothing to do with economics. It has to do with morality. You don’t fix morality with more welfare or a higher minimum wage. The welfare state helped to bring us to this point. Those looters “that needed bread” probably had the latest iphone in their pocket.
you want to give everyone $$$& and have the nerve to bring up capitalism… You’re special..
Sounds so nice, a living wage for people that don’t want to, and aren’t going to work. As long as the government will give out money SOME of the crime stats will be low but there is still those who will not work……….period!
“It’s as if the White House’s crime plan is written on the back of a shampoo bottle”
it might be. well, a 3×5 card.
“……shampoo bottle…..”
Nah. Dirty communists. The filth doesn’t wash off. Maybe written on the back label of that laboratory grown meat they love so much. Fake, through-and-through.
sounds like they plan to lean on FFL’s they same way they did in the 90’s…when our numbers were vastly diminished…
Gotta remember, Slojoe’s never had an original thought. He’s just regurgitating everything Barry O whispers in his earpiece!
True. What sort of person would vote for a puppet?
The final part is to give convicts job training.
Aren’t they ALL trained in license plate manufacturing, working in a laundry and how to maintain a restaurant while they’re inside? Should be able to work at anything to do with sheet metal, food, or laundry/dry cleaning plus most janitorial stuff… The best course of action would probably be to actually educate kids and bring back Vocational studies and VoTec schools as alternatives to teaching fuzzy math and concentrating on learning how to take tests…
lot of good paying jobs out there these days for people willing to get their hands dirty…instead of wasting time and money pursuing a questionable college degree….
“We have more guns in this nation than anyone who wrote the Second Amendment could ever have envisioned.”
….and we are right proud of that….founding Fathers would be proud, also. High-fives, Attaboys, and hoot-n-hollors all around! Yup.
Hey!!! Is it still OK to call them Founding Fathers?
/snark font/.
I think the problem is caused by foundling fathers.
well, they’re right…there have never been so many in circulation…the real question they need to ask themselves is why people are so motivated to acquire one…..
“We have more guns in this nation than anyone who wrote the Second Amendment could ever have envisioned.”
We also have more people (about half of the KNOWN population of the planet in the 1700s now lives in the U.S.), automobiles, trucks, planes, paved highways, drug dealers and politicians… So, what’s the point?
MaddMax,
Right!!! Durbin said that like it was a bad thing. And we are all proud and happy about it.
in one way it is concerning and implies people have lost faith in their government’s ability to protect them…the next question is why?
Put some teeth back in the law & use it,
Use the death penalty when deserved, & keep the bleeding heart lawyers & activist judges on a leash.
Why save the thugs when they just repeat offend, most get a free ride because bleedhearts think they’re being singled out because of skin color or ethnicity. Until then the 2A is going to be the red headed stepchild of the Constitution.
Death penalties and RTKABA are unrelated concepts. Check out Singapore or Japan.
a jail with a revolving door never seems to work too well…..
The operative word here is CONTROL. If sleepy Joe eliminates lawful gun ownership than crime will skyrocket and his controllers can then suspend Posse Comitatus, bring in the Army and declare marshal law. This has been the goal of the Marxist Commie DemonRats all along.
Texian……… Our gun ownership is what has kept us from being another Venezuela. I think they want to ratify the U N Small Arms treaty and request U N troops to come in and help enforce this treaty. That shouldn’t last long. The U N’s track record at doing anything other than making speeches is laughable.
The UN troops used are supplied by countries who charge the least.
I’m sure this will make David Hogg feel all nice and warm inside.
Many of these gun manufacturers that make firearms for civilians ALSO make them for law enforcement and our armed forces. Guns not made here for them would have to be imported. This might be easy to handle for cops since we have a defund the police movement but it won’t work so well for troops on the battle field.
With things like this, nothing here could be defended effectively. Why not just rip the teeth out of our country?
Law enforcement officers are also civilian.
Than why do so many act as if they are military?
Napoleon Complex
Walter Mittys with delusions of grandeur.
“Were cops..and you’re not”…..
Sounds like the POTUS Biden just commited a hate crime.
GMAFB Biden has always had the IQ of two dimes and a wooden nickel! He still thinks he’s getting his leg hair rubbed by Corn Pop!
You notice how virtually nobody talks about disarming militias, foreign fighters, terrorists, pick-your-fav-term, etc. in war zones? If we could only disarm Al Qaeda terrorism would not happen. As if machetes have not proven themselves to be effective genocidal implements . . . vans and planes too. Or maybe its the fact that a number of the weapons in war zones and on the streets come from nation states including the US. If the US.gov gives weapons to Sunni tribes in Iraq then tell me again how and why you plan to reduce gun violence in Chiraq? If you could not disarm Afghanistan what makes you think you can disarm an even larger country with much greater wealth?
The “criminals” already have weapons! On our streets – now. No background check is going to pry the gun from a criminals hands. And there are plenty more on the streets of America. If criminals can get guns in places like Europe and China you know they can get them in the Good Ole USA. Man this crap gets old. I am tired of nit-wits who believe these liars telling a fantasy that you can get hundreds of millions of guns out of circulation. And that’s just guns. Like criminals don’t use other tools.
the bad guys always seem to be waving around AK’s…and they’re not getting them from us..
The Democrats can end crime tomorrow. All they have to do is make everything legal.
Which they are trying to do.
They’ve all but legalized robbery.
Its simple to me. Theres a world of hurt on the way and Our government doesn’t want armed citizens.
Gasoline $15 a gallon, 5 pound sack of tators $10, pound of hamburger $12, loaf of bread $8, milk$7 a gallon.
Oh what’s this? My electric bill $850. hmmm guess a one bedroom house is more then I can afford.
My power Bill’s were about that much. Then I tried turning off my hot water for 1-2 days at time. Turn on overnight, off for the next few days. On again…
Cut my electricity bills by more than half. My quarterly power bills are now $350-400.
Instant-on water heaters are available as well, powered by gas or electricity. No more keeping water hot in a tank, heat it as needed…
we do seem to be moving in that direction….
The National Front for Organized Crime are confident that they can’t be voted out of power. Even if “they” are voted out there’ll always be the core left. It is not a political party, it is a crime syndicate that finally got legally elected. Joe and Ho are nothing but puppets. If “The Democrats” have the expertise to flip an election on the fly, then they have already taken the mid-terms, and every election after that. The Mob is after it all, not just one or two amendments. Just a matter of time, most likely sooner than later, The Constitution of The United States will be declared a racist document written by the original white supremacist’s and will be abolished.
. If “The Democrats” have the expertise to flip an election on the fly,
Fortunately they were not THAT good at it as we are finding out in Arizona and Georgia…. PA and others coming soon…
We have reached the point where our Democracy has regressed into a Idiocracy.
Our demographics have reached the point that more than 50% of the voters are morons.
That shouldn’t be a surprise because the “education system” has been cranking out an ever-increasing perecentage of indoctrinated morons for at least the past 50 years.
Our country is so stupid that the general public and Judiciary do nothing as we allow a flood of morons across our now opened borders.
We’ve had 20 years of decreasing crime rates that have turned the opposite way in the past 3 years and there is a whole moron class that is baffled by the suggestion that the easy-on-the-criminal policies of the past 3 years might be a factor.
The only hope is division and the hope that the morons will move to the “free money” Blue U.S.
Then we build a big wall along Red U.S.
I’m a “community violence interrupter”; how about tax breaks/incentives on my practice ammo, so I can do my job better?
Think of Biden as a LAB RAT. Once he learns one way to go through the maze, he just keeps doing the same thing over and over.
Change one thing, and he can’t make it through any more.
Biden was, is and will remain what he is and always was, a gas bag.
Everyone who carries daily is a “community violence interrupter.”
You’re welcome, Joe.
The real enemy for gun manufacturers as well as law abiding gun owners is Biden and his party. Soros, a 100% socialist and atheist knows firearms must be removed to control the people (think Cuba, China, Russia, et. al.). Anti-2A liberals claim they only want to control AR 15 type firearm. Wrong, this is just their first step, to follow with banning all semiautomatic hunting guns, and then all hand guns. Banning all firearms is the central theme of all communist countries. Support the NRA, Gun Owners of America and all other pro-firearms organizations.
Biden wants to ban legal guns. Says the Old Goat surrounded by armed guards. Go get Illegals and illegal guns. And leave the law abiding citizens alone. Get bought and paid for puppets out of DC.
Never forget that their end-goal is the disarming of the American citizen. They are just using ‘crime’ as a convenient excuse. Hitler used the same excuse in 1934 to justify confiscating firearms from the German people. See how that worked out……….