In a turn of events, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was ‘fact-checked’ by Breitbart News after she claimed that the 1994-2004 “assault weapons” ban had the effect of lessening mass shootings in the U.S.
Breitbart’s verdict? False.
Jean-Pierre began a Tuesday press conference speaking on the recent mass shootings taking place in California, a state that arguably has more gun control restrictions than any other in the nation.
California itself has a so-called “assault weapons” ban on the books.
The White House press secretary indicated that she believes they should these bans should be put in place nationally as well, saying, “The last time we had an ‘assault weapons’ ban on the books, thanks to the President and Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) leadership, mass shootings actually went down.”
There is just one problem with Jean-Pierre’s claims: they aren’t true.
As a report by the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) found, the “assault weapons” ban could not be linked to any kind of reduced crime.
University of Pennsylvania professor Christopher Koper, who authored the report, was quoted by The Washington Times saying, “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence.”
Joe Biden wholeheartedly agrees with Jean-Pierre’s desire to federally force fewer legal options for American gun owners to defend themselves.
In wake of the tragic mass shootings in the highly gun-restricted California, Biden called for more gun control, saying, “Even as we await further details on these shootings, we know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action. I once again urge both chambers of Congress to act quickly and deliver this assault weapons ban to my desk, and take action to keep American communities, schools, workplaces, and homes safe.”
This point of view of enacting more gun-control prohibitions has been reaffirmed by the White House numerous times in the past.
As his press secretary noted in November of 2022, Biden “believes that it’s important to keep this issue in banning assault weapons at the front of the minds of Americans.”
https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/159733280674032435
A bill to reinstate the federal “assault weapons” ban of the 1990s along with legislation to make the minimum age of purchasing weapons identified as such was reportedly introduced Monday by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT).
