Democratic Senator Joseph Biden has had an uneventful first term as Vice President. Unfortunately, though he has made some headway towards their goals (such as codifying Roe v Wade or canceling student debt), many members are disillusioned with him.
Furthermore, he has yet to present an agenda for his second term – something which concerns many voters, particularly young ones.
The 2nd Biden Term
Although many Democrats don’t favor Joe Biden as their next president, he remains an early frontrunner in 2024’s race for that office. His experience and international connections were instrumental in winning an unexpectedly close election against Donald Trump four years ago; but since then national challenges that are outside his control as well as administration missteps have hurt his approval ratings significantly.
Biden has made several missteps while in office, such as confusing Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi and Francois Mitterrand with Helmut Kohl, that have brought into question his mental acuity. Along with a weak economy and unmet Democratic goals, this may have caused him to reconsider running for another term in office; yet his biggest goal a ban on assault weapons has not been attained, along with unfinished civil rights work such as protecting access to abortion services and fighting police misconduct all challenging endeavours that cannot be undertaken lightly.
Assault Weapons Ban
Gun control advocates use misinformation and scare tactics to sway public support for their cause. Their narrative revolves around “militia”, with calls to ban any weapons considered “military”. Unfortunately, this argument has already cost Democrats votes in recent elections.
Biden campaigned on his promise of reinstating an assault weapon ban during his 2024 run for office and has received strong backing from prominent gun safety groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety and Brady Campaign for Gun Violence Prevention. Additionally, he signed executive actions targeting ghost guns and increasing background checks.
The Supreme Court’s rationale for upholding gun laws, that they don’t interfere with the core of the Second Amendment, is fallacious. A similar argument could be made for laws banning political slogans – yet such proposals would likely be dismissed outright by this Court as overbroad. Instead, following its precedent and applying rigorous scrutiny to gun laws would enable it to strike them down swiftly.
Background Checks
As president, Biden would likely push legislation to close the “private sale” loophole and require background checks for all gun purchases. While these laws may not prevent every mass shooting incident from happening again, they could greatly reduce its probability.
Although the Supreme Court has never directly addressed whether background check requirements violate the Second Amendment, most constitutional scholars agree that they do not. Furthermore, no background check law has ever been overturned due to concerns related to Second Amendment violations.
Still, conservative critics raise constitutional objections to expanded background checks. According to these critics, the Constitution only grants limited powers to the federal government, such as interstate commerce regulation – meaning federal regulations cannot extend to firearm transactions taking place entirely within one state. While this concern is valid, this approach only addresses an abstract issue instead of providing real solutions.
Gun Control
Biden championed an assault weapons ban during his time as senator and has continued advocating for gun safety laws as president. But Republicans in states dominated by conservative voters know they risk electoral disaster if they vote or even discuss new gun regulations.
Proponents of the Second Amendment contend that its prefatory language – “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms” creates an individual constitutional right to possess firearms. But scholars and courts have generally focused on its original intent: protecting state militias for defense purposes.
Recently, victims and their families of gun violence have filed suits against gun manufacturers over weapons used in crimes, and sought to overturn the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act from Bush-era that shields gunmakers from liability. If Biden supported repeal of that act it would constitute a clear violation of the Second Amendment.
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