A group of 15 Republican attorneys general delivered a letter to Joe Biden Wednesday lambasting his position on so-called “assault weapons” and promising to advocate against his plan to go after gun rights.
Republican Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who led the coalition, challenged Biden’s definition of the supposed “assault weapons,” adding that his urging for Congress to prohibit such items is “irresponsible and unconstitutional.” The letter spoke on Biden’s State of The Union Address and his remarks about “assault weapons” and semi-automatic handguns, calling it “astonishing,” given that more than 100 million semi-automatic handguns and 45 million semi-automatic rifles currently sit in the hands of ostensibly pro-Second Amendment Americans.
The attorneys general additionally said that Biden’s usage of the “Assault weapon term” is an intentionally “misleading label” used to create fear and encourage the criminalization of American gun owners.
"In a letter sent to President Biden, 15 other state attorneys general joined Attorney General Knudsen in highlighting the many flaws of his reasons for banning his personal, broad definition of 'assault weapons,' as well as the dangers of doing so." https://t.co/BDG48A4Ihd
— FPC Action Foundation (@FPCAction) February 15, 2023
“The right to keep and bear arms in self-defense guards and protects the right to life, the first and most fundamental God-given right recognized in the Declaration of Independence. And, needless to say, your repeated attempts to deprive law-abiding Americans of guns that are in common and widespread use for self-defense are patently unconstitutional,” read the letter.
As noted by the Daily Caller, Biden has called for “assault weapon” prohibitions numerous times in the past, most recently advocating for such a ban in January. He has asserted that no “social redeeming value” can be found with having “assault weapons” as deer do not sport “Kevlar vests.”
Biden ridiculed the concept of U.S. citizens safeguarding the Second Amendment in order to protect against a potentially tyrannical government, claiming it would take far more weaponry than an AR-15 rifle to defend oneself in such a scenario.
“I love my right-wing friends who’ll talk about the tree of liberty is watered with the blood of patriots. If you need to worry about taking on the federal government, you need some F-15s you don’t need an AR-15,” charged Biden.
The Republican attorneys general are not the only GOP officials who are publicly defending the right to bear arms. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) blasted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for their newly passed rule on pistol braces earlier this month, stressing that the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution “shall not be infringed” under any circumstance.
In the past, Massie famously posted a photograph of both himself and his family posing with firearms, a move that brought fury from the mainstream media.
