President Joe Biden told a group of mayors that they would be instrumental in implementing his Second Amendment policies, including a ban on some types of semiautomatic rifles, so-called “assault weapons.”
President Biden welcomed a bipartisan group of mayors attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting at the White House on Friday.
He told the mayors that the American Rescue Plan has spent $15 billion on infrastructure and public safety.
The president said much of that money went directly to cities to hire and equip police officers, institute violence intervention programs, and fund other crime prevention programs.
“You’ve done a tremendous job putting those resources to work. You know how to do it,” President Biden said. “Mayors are the people who get things done.”
He said that, at the urging of his staff, he is continuing his push for a revival of the 1990s-era “Assault Weapons Ban.”
The ban, which he said he helped the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) write, was in place from September 1994 to September 2004.
President Biden claimed the ban reduced violent crime, including mass shootings. That claim has motivated his administration to push for a renewal of the policy.
“My staff came to me and said, ‘We need a White House office dedicated to getting guns off the streets and treating the trauma from violence,” he said.
“I’m still committed to banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“When we passed the Second Amendment, guess what? You weren’t allowed to have a cannon.”
During his speech Friday, President Biden drew chuckles from the mayors as he derided an argument sometimes made by Second Amendment advocates against “assault weapons” bans.
“You’ve heard, ‘the tree of liberty is watered with the blood of patriots?’ Guess what, man? I didn’t see a whole lot of patriots out there walking around making sure that we have these weapons. If you really want to worry about the government, you need an F-16. You don’t need an AR-15,” President Biden said.
The president’s remarks drew laughter from the mayors.
A Rand Corporation study completed in 2020 and updated in 2023 found limited evidence that “high capacity magazine” bans reduced mass shootings and inconclusive evidence on the effect of banning “assault weapons” on the incidents of mass shootings.
President Biden also touted the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” (BSCA) passed in June of 2022 as “the first gun safety law in 30 years.”
Under the BSCA, President Biden has issued numerous executive orders, directed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to change or write many sometimes controversial rules, and established a “White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention” last September.
The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention is led by Vice President Kamala Harris and staffed by veterans of the gun control movement. Stefanie Feldman, President Biden’s staff secretary, runs the office with Greg Jackson and Rob Wilcox.
Previously, Mr. Jackson led the Community Justice Action Fund, which focused on the impact of violent crime involving guns on minority communities.
Mr. Wilcox worked at Brady, served on the Board of Directors of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, and practiced law in New York City.
Recently, Ms. Harris announced the office’s “Safer States Agenda” to push similar programs at the state level.
“We’re deploying teams to meet with communities that have been victimized, to make sure they get the help they need,” President Biden told the mayors.
