The National Rifle Association (NRA) has responded strongly to Vice President Kamala Harris' assertion that President Biden will ban "assault weapons."
In a tweet on Tuesday evening, Harris celebrated Biden's determination to implement such a ban, prompting the NRA to provide an exclusive comment to Fox News Digital on Wednesday. NRA spokesman Billy McLaughlin criticized Harris for her lack of historical knowledge regarding Biden's previous attempts to ban "assault weapons" in the 1990s.
"Vice President Harris should learn her history before going on social media. She's referring to Biden's 1994 vote for the 'assault weapons' ban as his big so-called victory," McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. "Yet, thanks to the NRA, the ban expired in 2004. And, AR-15 ownership surged from 850,000 then to 25 million today."
During his time as a Delaware senator, Biden voted in favor of banning semi-automatic firearms in 1994 as part of a major crime bill. The Democrat-majority House also passed the ban as a standalone bill, which was eventually incorporated into a comprehensive anti-crime package. The bill included exceptions and had a sunset provision in order to secure its passage.
Former President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law in September 1994. It imposed a 10-year ban on the manufacture, transfer, or possession of "semiautomatic assault weapons" and "large capacity ammunition feeding devices."
The following election season saw significant losses for Democrats, resulting in Republicans gaining control of both chambers of Congress. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, admitted at the time that she underestimated the influence of the NRA in Washington, D.C.
The ban expired in 2004, during President George W. Bush's administration when Republicans held control of Congress.
"Even President Clintons DOJ conceded the ban was ineffective," McLaughlin stated.
A Department of Justice study published in 1999 examined the short-term effects of the ban and found that it "failed to reduce the average number of victims per gun murder incident or multiple gunshot wound victims." Another DOJ study published in 2004 concluded that the ban's "effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement."
Despite these findings, Democrats, including Biden, continue to champion the ban as an effective measure to prevent mass shootings.
"We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a senator. It passed. It was the law for the longest time. And it brought down these mass killings. We should do it again," Biden said in 2021 following a grocery store shooting in Boulder, Colorado.
The NRA countered by highlighting the popularity of the AR-15, a semi-automatic rifle often labeled as an "assault weapon" by liberals, and described it as "America's top self-defense rifle."
"A testament to this is the 8-month pregnant Florida mother who, with her AR-15, defended her family from two armed intruders who brutally assaulted her husband. Joe and Kamala ought to speak to the many ignored and forgotten law-abiding Americans who rely on AR-15s for their safety," McLaughlin continued, referencing a 2019 case where a pregnant woman used an AR-15 to protect her family.
When approached for comment on the NRA's statement, the White House directed Fox News Digital to the Biden campaign team. Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz responded, stating, "Time and time again, the gun lobby has chosen profits over human lives. The NRA doubling down on their deeply unpopular and dangerous support for weapons of war in our communities is a choice and it's a losing choice."
The NRA concluded its statement by accusing the Biden administration of persecuting law-abiding gun owners while Americans are "under siege from criminals." They argued that the administration's pro-criminal policies drive more people to purchase guns. McLaughlin also suggested that the President may hesitate to enforce gun laws due to issues closer to home.
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