On Sunday, the White House released a statement by President Biden calling for new gun-control laws. Predictably, he claims this will “end our epidemic of gun violence.” There is no such epidemic. Homicides with firearms are the lowest they’ve been since the early 1990s.
The actual proposal?
(…) requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.
None of these measures has ever been shown to have any effect on homicide. None of these measures would have ameliorated the tragedy at Parkland, which he seeks to exploit here. In fact, he personally admitted that just a few years ago.
So, I’m confused. No, really. The thing is, this guy traditionally gets stuff done on gun control. He wrote the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which we know as the “assault weapons ban.” He broke the four-year Republican filibuster against it and managed the compromises leading to its passage. He knows the process.
So why is he pushing it so hard just three weeks into his first term? He knows it’ll be a tough sell in the House, and it’s never going to clear 60 votes in the Senate.
The answer is simple, if a bit cynical. He doesn’t expect it to pass.
This is going to be the pattern for the Biden Presidency: distract with big promises, then blame the Republicans for failing to deliver. So far, the impeachment hearings were a convenient cover for the delays and compromises on Covid-19 relief, but the public has a short attention span. A big spat over gun control will invigorate the pundits on CNN, and it’ll rile up the folks over at Fox. We’ll be deluged with coverage about it, and we won’t pay attention to the job losses and tax hikes going on in the background.
I’m not suggesting complacency, and you should get in touch with your legislators if you haven’t already, but I’m not getting worried just yet.