There will be an “assault weapons” ban, background checks at more points of sale, and longer waits to complete those background checks, if Democrats win control of the Senate via the January 5, 2021, Georgia run-off elections.
In 2019 NPR reported the Democrat-controlled U.S. House passed universal background checks legislation in honor of the eighth anniversary of the January 8, 2011, firearm-based attack on Gabby Giffords. The legislation would expand the background check requirement from retail sales only, so as to include private sales as well.
Democrats did not mention that Giffords’ attacker acquired his gun at retail via a background check; therefore, the Democrats’ legislation would not have prevented his getting his gun or carrying out his attack.
Nonetheless, Democrats immediately began pressuring the Republican-controlled Senate to take the measure up for a vote, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) never brought it up for a vote. A Democrat-controlled Senate would almost certainly consider legislation for such background checks at the earliest opportunity.
House Democrats also passed legislation to expand the number of days a background check can last. Called the Enhanced Background Checks Act, Business Insider reported that it “would extend the current background check review period from three days to ten.” And those are 10 business days, which means the background check could last 12 or more days, depending on how many weekends the check fell across.
Another piece of gun control that is high on Joe Biden’s priority list is a ban on firearms Democrats describe as “assault weapons.”
During a November 6, 2019, CNN interview, Biden answered in the affirmative when asked if he was coming for guns. CNN’s Anderson Cooper said, “So, to gun owners out there who say, well, a Biden administration means they’re going to come for my guns?”
Biden replied, “Bingo. You’re right if you have an assault weapon. The fact of the matter is, they should be illegal, period.
As recently as November 1, 2020, Breitbart News reported Biden doubling down on his pledge to ban “assault weapons.”
The push for such a ban, often framed as a renewal of the 1994 federal “assault weapons” ban, is also frequently made by Democrats following high profile, public, firearm-based attacks. A Democrat-controlled Senate would almost certainly pass such legislation.
In addition to these things, Jon Ossoff, one of the Democrats in the Georgia Senate race, wants to ban semiautomatic rifles and speaks in support of a licensing requirement for semiautomatic handguns. Such controls would very much be part of the conservation if voters do not rally behind pro-Second Amendment candidate Kelly Loeffler (R) and Sen. David Perdue (R) and ensure Republican victories on January 5, 2021.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at [email protected]. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
