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White House Backs Biden: Buy a Shotgun (Not an AR-15)

Robert Farago - comments No comments

Tailgunner Joe Biden is at ballistic Ground Zero for the current push for civilian disarmament, making sure that the Constitution State stays true to its name. Oh wait. Sorry. Making sure that Connecticut pols infringe upon Americans’ Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.

The visit comes hot on the heels of Biden’s advice to Parents magazine readers who think an AR-15-style rifle might be just the ticket for self-defense [as above]: fire warning shots in the air like you just don’t care.

Yesterday, an enterprising reporter asked White House Spokesman Jay Carney the obvious question: c’mon? Really? Yup. “In his view, you do not need a military-style assault weapon to protect your home. In fact, you would be better off with a shotgun.” thedailybeast.com breaks it down . . .

Biden’s detour actually performed an important political service for the Obama administration. It highlighted the fact that the gun reforms put forward don’t fit the “Obama’s coming for your guns!” fearmongering that too often derails our debates.

The formula that’s been used to polarize our politics always seems to involve distorting policies and demonizing the opposition. It’s effective in the short term because it spreads misinformation and plays off emotion. So the issue becomes not mass shootings or assault weapons, but total gun confiscation; not health-care reform, but socialism (or death panels); not raising tax revenue, but class warfare.

But when Joe Biden sings the praises of a double-barrel shotgun for home protection, he’s showing that he is not anti-gun. He’s drawing a useful distinction between the abstractions that are used to defend the supposed sanctity of assault weapons with the way most people use guns—for hunting or self-defense.

In his meandering way, Biden highlighted the idea of reasonable restrictions.

Not so meandering and not so reasonable, methinks. I also think Biden’s mantra—buy a shotgun, buy a shotgun—helps the pro-gun side, in the same way President Obama’s skeet shooting photo did. Both the statement and the image normalize guns, making them less scary to the mainstream.

Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. That, my FN SCAR and my pistol-gripped, extended mag, semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun.

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “White House Backs Biden: Buy a Shotgun (Not an AR-15)”

  1. My prediction is that he will sign them all. He was never a strong 2A supporter, and there is something in the water besides toxic waste that makes all NJ politicians, even Republicans (read “RINO”) all in for gun control. After, if one child’s life is saved…

    He may be running in 2016, but unless all the Dems change their party affiliation to vote in the Republican primaries, he will face a hard time of it out in the middle of the country.

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  2. To quibble respectfully, Robert: the title of this article should be “Third Circuit Court…” rather than “Third District Court…”

    Thanks for the information. This is an important case – one of many on their way to the Supreme Court.

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  3. Shotgun “better” for home defense than AR-15. Of course. Got it. Make mine a 30″ barrel please.

    Do we consider whether there is more than one bad guy? What if the homeowner is a 105-pound, 82 year old man with a walker? What if my 95 pound, sixteen year old daughter is home babysitting the younger ones?

    Can we please get a definition of “better” before my head explodes?

    PS – I think “better” would mean owning both. I missed the part of the 2A being either/or.

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  4. Never trusted a semi-auto shotgun.

    I just can’t shake the idea of a stuck pin making it go full-auto irrespective of the trigger and tearing my arm off.

    Silly, perhaps, but I’ll stick with a pump.

    Russ

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  5. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/20/joe-biden-shotgun-advice-could-land-jill-biden-in-jail

    From the article: “Jill Biden could be charged with aggravated menacing, a felony, and reckless endangering in the first degree.” In addition to felony charges, “Discharge of a firearm within 15 yards of a road (7 Del.C. § 719), a misdemeanor,” and “Violation of the residential dwelling safety zone as set forth in 7 Del.C. § 723, also a misdemeanor.”

    Leaving aside the questions of encouraging felonies and misdemeanors and considering only the tactical question: Since your “double barrel shotgun” provides only two shots before reloading, why discharge them both into the air, leaving yourself with nothing to use for home defense, which is the reason to have a loaded shotgun in the home anyway?

    Note to prospective home invaders: When you’re burglarizing 1209 Barley Mill Rd., Wilmington DE, wait till you hear both shots, then you may proceed in safety, without concern about being perforated.

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  6. This is an obvious troll video…the guy is brilliant. Read the description of the AR parts at about 30 seconds….the gun has 2 modes,”safe and killing spree” haha. This dude is trolling anti gunners like a BOSS

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  7. The only distinction I see being drawn is between those that understand the factors that make a good self defense weapon, and those that do not.
    There’s plenty of us who have shotguns kitted for home defense, but I see advocating something like a side-by-side or an over-under as a self defense weapon as very reckless.

    I think it’s funny they point out the whole thing as distortion, because that’s what I think this whole damn thing is about anyway- They’ve got so many people on both sides fighting and spending to push back (or for) this mess, they can pretty much do anything else they want without raising an eyebrow.

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    • If it’s all I had, I would get a great deal of comfort from a decent coach gun, for instance. Again, not to say that people shouldn’t be able to choose exactly what fits them and their situation; they certainly should.

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  8. New Jersey’s not “on the brink,” although it’s certainly on the blink. New Jersey has been a slave state for some time now. Finding “assault weapons” in NJ is like finding pork chops in Tel Aviv.

    Don’t count on Gov. Chris Crisco to save 2A in NJ. He made his leftist bones as a gun-grabbing RINO.

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  9. New Jersey Constitution Article I, [1.]
    All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.

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  10. I wonder if Joe the Joke realizes that in most states it is illegal or highly frowned upon to fire Warning Shots?!
    Besides that is he going to pay for the two new holes in my house from the warning shots?
    Oh and they will have to pass a law stating that all criminals must wait one minute after hearing the second warning shot so as to give the homeowner time to reload his double barrel shotgun.
    He is such an idiot, funny as hell but still an idiot!!!

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  11. What about the people who’re living in high-crime areas with no secluded woods? Are they going to step onto their balconies and fire a couple of warning shots randomly into the air? This is great if you live in the middle of the woods in Wisconsin. Not great if you’re living in Brooklyn.

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  12. Satire. Or trolling if you will. Freeze it at :36 seconds and read the description of the semi-automatic machine gun sniper rifle, you can see it’s a joke.

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  13. “The right to feel safe. It’s in the Constitution.”

    The DOI makes reference to the “perfuit of happineff,” but not the Constitution. Please forgive my asking fun of 18th century glyphs.

    I wonder if his gun “facts” are any more factual thn his knowledge of he Republic?

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    • Agreed, but they have imported some good cuisine. London is a great place to get good Indian food. Some of the best curry I’ve ever had.

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      • “Indian food” is not indian any more than the fortune cookie is chinese. It was invented in London for the english palatte. that said, its fantastic.

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  14. We need some good bar graphs where gun violence and total violence are in the same bar. That way even though we can see that the red portion of the bar (gun violence) is taller for the US than the UK, we can see that the total bar (say, red for guns and blue for everything else) is much higher in the UK.

    Make sure it’s RATE, not total.

    And we need to do it for two time periods: time before UK gun ban and time after the UK gun ban.

    This way in one simple chart we can see that gun crimes may have gone down but total violent crime has gone up postban and is much worse than in the US.

    Any intrepid chart wizards or graphic designers out there?

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  15. I’m wondering how long it will take for the MSM to declare
    shotguns ultra dangerous. My guess is that they’re already
    stockpiling photos of close range shotgun blasts.

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  16. He’s trying to take patrol rifles away for sure. But because he’s giving piss poor advice on shotguns and self defense this proves they’re not trying to take our guns away?

    I do choose to use a shotgun for a house gun. A pump gun. How long before biden and barry rename a pump gun a semi auto and tell us we don’t need any more firepower than a double gun to protect ourselves with.

    Add to that the fact that I’m almost always carrying a j frame when home. How long before barry and joe rename the j frame a “saturday night special”?

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  17. Mr. Biden proves himself to be the epitome of someone who believes they understand the nature of firearms. For home defense all of his suggestions are poor substitutions for a good, semi-auto rifle: shotgun, warning shots and “the sound” of the shotgun itself.

    Any shotgun is better for home defense than no gun at all obviously, but I would rather use a pistol or a rifle for numerous reasons. The “sound” a shotgun makes has always been terrible advice to deter a burglar, and a warning shot is probably about the dumbest thing you can do.

    What Mr. Biden gets confused on is that a gun should be used for home defense but not to kill someone it seems. I don’t think he can comprehend that someone such as myself does not harbor any qualms or reservations to shoot to kill an intruder to my home. I have no intention to wound or maim them, nor to scare them away; if someone has broken in to my house they at the very least intend to deprive me of what is rightfully mine and at the worst intend to come for my life.

    I, however, can’t mentally position myself for anything less than the worst outcome. I don’t do so when any other situation arises where my life is potentially in danger. I don’t reason that the speeding car will not run the red light but will slam on his brakes in time. I don’t settle for a ladder that is precariously resting against my roof in hopes in doesn’t fall over as I am at the top of it. Nor should I assume someone illegally trespassing into my house is going to not intend me or my loved ones fatal harm. These people have already crossed the Rubicon and disregarded what is right and wrong, I won’t think for a second they can’t turn from an intruder to a murderer because I made a scary noise with a shotgun.

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  18. In addition to the State felonies and misdemeanors I mentioned earlier, the VP’s back porch looks to be within the 1000 foot radius “gun-free zone” [sic] around the property of The Tatnall School.

    So if she follows his advice, Mrs. Biden would be open to Federal felony charges too.

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  19. 1. Is he coming down off of something?
    2. Is he trying to do the whole “Blair Witch” style of Camera work?
    3. Someone get this dude some Zicam!
    4. Post this video again when you move out of your parents house and have some hair on your…. Maybe then your opinion will hold some form of validity.
    5. “I don’t even believe that’s something that’s real”

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  20. A true “no grandfathering” of “assault weapons” would make NY look like a gunners paradise. I can’t believe the NSSF and others will let that fly. We already pretty much have registration – all sales from dealers are added to a town and a state registry.

    Time to buy some vacation property in PA?

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    • Ok read it – so there is a very limited amount of grandfathering (registered for later confiscation, natually, but not quite “turn ’em in” – yet) if you already own them. They also expanded the list of “bad features” to add muzzle brakes and forward handgrips, while of course only allowing one feature. Threaded barrels on pistols are also banned.

      Dreams of owning a Tavor just died.

      Anyone know where I can get an Benelli semi-auto quickly?

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      • Looks like the California AWB template updated with additional restrictions. In other word, Leland “Goatfscker” Yee’s wet dream.

        You have to wonder where they come up with this stuff, and why they think it will affect crime at all. I’d like to see the stats on how many CT gun crimes have been committed with (paraphrasing) “handguns that weigh more than 50 ounces unloaded”. I just don’t see the S&W 500 or Desert Eagle being favored tools for muggers.

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        • Well, GunUp might just be able to sell me one of those threaded-barrel R1s so long as they can ship fast. Maybe also see if Lone Wolff has any threaded barrels for Glocks I can get prior to this coming in.

          Never really wanted a Deagle, but now I sort of do. Ok, not really.

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  21. Christie was confused. He thought the 2nd amendment had to do with going for seconds at the Atlantic City Casinos Buffet dinners. That’s why he was for it before he was against it.

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  22. I don’t wonder if this is their plan to break the AR industry. If you can’t out right ban them (because they know these state laws won’t pass muster in court) then demonize them for those on the fence and over load the market with orders from those fearing they’ll be banned.

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  23. As someone born long before the AARPANET, let alone the WWW, “FPS” stands for ‘Feminine Protection Spray’.

    Which means cookie no stinky even though no washy…

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  24. so is she staying with the guy or dumping him? After all, Low Information Voters who get their news data from the Lifetime Channel only care about the important stuff

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  25. Shotgun yeah thats a goid choice fir home defense but if things go bump in the night and I dont know how many intruders I have to deal with im grabbing my shotty and 1911 and handing my lady my ar to go to my sons room and defend the nest…if I wasnt home my lady couldnt handle the recoil of the shotgun she might be able to unload it but she wouldnt be aiming very well

    Reply

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