Biden Pushes 9mm Handgun Ban, Harris Wants to Ban Common Semi-autos

If anyone was still questioning the Biden-Harris administration’s devotion to banning and confiscating law-abiding Americans’ firearms, all doubt has been erased.

On May 31, President Joe Biden once again stated that he wants to ban 9mm firearms. Speaking with reporters outside the White House about a purported encounter with a “trauma doctor,” Biden stated,

They said a .22-caliber bullet will lodge in the lung, and we can probably get it out — may be able to get it and save the life. A 9mm bullet blows the lung out of the body.

So, the idea of these high-caliber weapons is, uh, there’s simply no rational basis for it in terms of self-protection, hunting. Remember, the Constitution was never absolute. You couldn’t buy a cannon when the Second Amendment was passed. You couldn’t go out and purchase a lot of weaponry.

Biden went on to say,

I can’t dictate this stuff. I can do the things that I’ve done. And any executive action I can take, I’ll continue to take. But I can’t outlaw a weapon.

The implication of Biden’s statement is clear to anyone other than a “fact checker” more interested in defending the president than checking any facts. Biden wants to outlaw 9mm firearms – the vast majority of which are the common 9mm handgun. It should also be noted that the president’s statement about the legality of cannons is an utter lie that even the left-wing press won’t defend.

Observers can be certain that Biden wants to ban 9mm pistols because the president has touted this policy twice before.

During a July 21, 2021 CNN “presidential town hall,” Joe Biden expressed his support for a ban on commonly-owned handguns. Responding to a question about the recent increase in violent crime, the career politician stated,

I'm the only guy that ever got passed legislation, when I was a senator, to make sure we eliminated assault weapons. The idea you need a weapon that can have the ability to fire 20, 30, 40, 50, 120 shots from that weapon, whether -- whether it's a 9-millimeter pistol or whether it's a rifle, is ridiculous. I'm continuing to push to eliminate the sale of those things.

Of course, any semi-automatic firearm capable of accepting a detachable magazine has the “ability to fire” in the manner Biden deemed objectionable. Therefore, the president’s statement was a call to ban all semi-automatic handguns, rifles, and shotguns capable of accepting a detachable magazine.

A November 2019 article in the Seattle Times chronicled Biden’s attendance at a pair of high-dollar private fundraisers in the Emerald City. While speaking to attendees at one of the soirees, Biden reportedly asked attendees, “Why should we allow people to have military-style weapons including pistols with 9mm bullets and can hold 10 or more rounds?”

As for confiscating such firearms, Biden had the following exchange with CNN’s Anderson Cooper when asked about firearm confiscation during an August 5, 2019 interview.

Cooper: So, to gun owners out there who say well a Biden administration means they are going to come for my guns.

Biden: Bingo! You’re right if you have an assault weapon.

As made clear from Biden’s July 21, 2021 and November 2019 statements, the president considers 9mm pistols to be “assault weapons” or “military-style weapons,” and thus these firearms are the target of his confiscation effort.

In targeting 9mm pistols, Biden has called for a ban on one of the most popular firearms in America. In its annual report on the U.S. firearms industry, Shooting Industry reported that 9mm caliber pistols are the most commonly produced pistol and have been for many years. In 2019 alone, there were more than 1.7 million 9mm pistols produced in the U.S. Cumulatively there are tens of millions of 9mm pistols in the hands of law-abiding Americans.

Not to be outdone, the even less popular half of the Biden-Harris administration called for a ban on commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms like the AR-15 over the weekend. Inappropriately referring to these firearms as “assault weapons,” on May 28, Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters, “let's have an assault weapons ban.” Harris also claimed, “An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in a civil society.”

Harris has long advocated for banning and confiscating commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms.

At a campaign even in Londonderry, N.H. in September 2019, then-presidential candidate Harris told reporters that confiscation of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms like the AR-15 was “a good idea.” Elaborating on her support for a compulsory “buyback” program, the senator added, “We have to work out the details -- there are a lot of details -- but I do…We have to take those guns off the streets.”

On the September 16, 2019 edition of the “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Harris reiterated her support for gun confiscation. During a question and answer session, an audience member asked Harris “Do you believe in the mandatory buyback of quote-unquote assault weapons and whether or not you do, how does that idea not go against fundamentally the Second Amendment?”

The candidate responded “I do believe that we need to do buybacks.” Making clear that she believes Americans’ Second Amendment is for sale, Harris added, “A buyback program is a good idea. Now we need to do it the right way. And part of that has to be, you know, buy back and give people their value, the financial value.”

Further demonstrating Harris’s commitment to gun confiscation, the candidate called for a “mandatory buyback program” during an October 3, 2019 MSNBC gun control forum and again during a November 2019 interview with NBC Nightly News.

Political observers curious as to why gun rights supporters refuse to concede any ground to gun control advocates need look no further than the president and vice president’s statements. Both have made clear that their goal is to ban firearms and disarm law-abiding Americans. Aside from being ineffective, no intermediate concession is enough to satisfy those who oppose the fundamental right to keep and bear arms, but such concessions will encourage and facilitate their stated goal of civilian disarmament.

© 2022 National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action. This may be reproduced. This may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.