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Biden Comments On Gun Rights, Says Second Amendment ‘Was Never Absolute’

Photo of Carmine Sabia Carmine SabiaMay 31, 2022
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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.

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President Joe Biden is arguing that the right to bear arms, enshrined in the Constitution, is “not absolute.”

“Sir, do you think there is anything different in how Republicans will approach the gun reform question now, given the circumstances?” a reporter said.

“Since I haven’t spoken to them, I don’t know.  But my guess is, if they have — if they — yes, I think they’re going to have to take a hard look,” the president said.

“Is there one element — is it aid, is it red flag, is it some component that you think could be most successful now?” the reporter said before Biden went into a rant.

“Well, that’s hard to say because I have not been negotiating with any of the Republicans yet.  And I deliberately did not engage in a debate about that with any Republican in — when we were down consoling the families in Texas.  So I don’t — I don’t know what is the most — how far it goes,” he said.

“I know that it makes no sense to be able to purchase something that can fire up to 300 rounds.  I know it makes — and I know what happened when we had rational action before, back in — when the crime bill was — the law that got passed.  It did significantly cut down on mass murders.

“And so there’s only one reason for something that can fire, you know, 100 shots.

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“I mean — and I’ll just conclude with this: Look when I first started doing hearings on the issue of what rational gun laws should be, it was during a period when I was a senator and the death rate was going up.  Not that many more people were being shot, but the death rate was up.  And when I think of — I’m not sure, I think it was (inaudible) hospital in New York — whatever the largest trauma hospital is,” the president said.

“And I sat with a trauma doctor, and I asked him — I said, ‘What’s the difference?  Why are so many people…’ — and not that many more people were being shot.  This is now 20 years ago, or 25 years.  I said, ‘Why are they dying?’  And they showed me x-rays.  He said, ‘A .22-caliber bullet will lodge in the lung, and we can probably get it out, may be able to get it, and save the life.  A 9mm bullet blows the lung out of the body,’” he said.

“So the idea of these high-caliber weapons is of — there’s simply no rational basis for it in terms of thinking about self-protection, hunting.  I mean, I just — and remember, the Constitution, the Second Amendment was never absolute.  You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed.  You couldn’t go out and purchase a lot of weapons,” he said, making the same ridiculous argument he has made before.

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“And those who — not many are saying it anymore, but there was a while there where people were saying that, you know, the Tree of Liberty is watered with the blood of patriots, and what we have to do is you have to be able to take on the government when they’re wrong.  Well, to do that, you need an F-15, you know?  Or you need an Abrams tank.

“I mean — so, it’s just — as I say, I think thing — I think things have gotten so bad that everybody is getting more rational about it.  At least that’s my hope and prayer.

“I’ve got Gold Star moms in there, so I got to go in,”  he said.

Many on social media slammed Biden for his comments.

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Photo of Carmine Sabia Carmine SabiaMay 31, 2022