Joe Biden’s “Valentine” to American gun owners is something of a wilted dandelion; another call for Congress to act on his gun control agenda including so-called “universal background checks,” a ban on so-called “assault weapons and high-capacity magazines” and repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act protecting firearms manufacturers from junk lawsuits.
According to the New York Post, Biden marked the fourth anniversary of the tragic mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The observance took on a bizarre tone when admitted killer Nikolas Cruz, who pleaded guilty to the massacre last Oct. 17, released a message expressing his sorrow “for what I did and I have to live with it every day.”
“If I were to get a second chance,” Cruz added in his message, “I would do everything in my power to try to help others. And I am doing this for you, and I don’t care if you do not believe me.”
While it may be doubtful whether anyone believes Cruz, the fact he accepted responsibility for murdering 17 people at the school four years ago at least puts blame where it belongs. Still Biden and the gun prohibition lobby continue to press efforts designed to penalize law-abiding gun owners for a crime they did not commit, gun rights activists believe.
The Associated Press is reporting that Biden is also maintaining his effort to prohibit so-called “ghost guns” –firearms built by home gunsmiths that may not have serial numbers—as they are “often purchased without a background check.”
Today also marks the 93rd anniversary of the infamous “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” in which seven men were gunned down in a Chicago garage, part of a gang war between George “Bugs” Moran and Al Capone.
But today, the high school mayhem is the event people remember, and anti-gun politicians exploit.
However, Biden’s track record so far at passing his gun control schemes is not so good. Last year, he had to withdraw his nomination of gun control proponent David Chipman, the former ATF agent-turned-advisor to gun prohibition organizations, to head the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The president’s other anti-gun strategies have also gotten a cool reception on Capitol Hill, and this being an election year with Democrats in serious trouble, that is not likely to change.
And looming just over the horizon is a Supreme Court ruling in a right-to-carry case that could be devastating to the gun prohibition movement.
Biden has also taken heat several times for making false statements about the Second Amendment regarding ownership of certain arms and limits on who could actually own firearms at the time the amendment was ratified as part of the Constitution.
