As if we ever doubted how this might play out, President Biden’s reelection campaign has moved his gun control agenda front and center of his campaign after unveiling a new advertisement last Saturday, highlighting his administration’s efforts to combat gun violence. The ad came just one day after the Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era prohibition on bump stocks.
In the 30-second spot, shared with The Hill, Biden blames former President Trump for the conservative-leaning court’s decision to overturn the ban. The Biden administration had defended the regulation, initially implemented by the Trump administration following the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.
“When Trump was president—children gunned down in classrooms, innocent people killed in church and massacred at a concert. Still, Trump did nothing,” Biden says in the ad, accusing the former president of often siding with the NRA. The ad also emphasizes Biden’s actions, including expanding background checks and establishing the Office of Gun Violence Prevention late last year.
“You and your family deserve to be safe and I’m going to fight like hell to see to it that you are,” Biden asserts in the advertisement. The campaign further notes that murder rates have declined under Biden’s administration, citing a 20 percent drop in over 200 cities across the U.S., based on an April analysis from the criminal justice consulting firm AH Analytics. Though those numbers are questionable, but if they are accurate, then it also possibly counters their arguments that “more guns equals more crime” as in that same time frame Biden is claiming to have made our country safer, gun sales continue on a healthy pace and more states have enacted permitless carry (also known as constitutional carry) in their states. Twenty-nine states now allow their citizens to legally carry firearms without a permit.
“If you care about the gun violence crisis in this country, there is only one candidate in this race with a proven record of successfully taking on the gun lobby and only one candidate who will ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” said Biden communications director Michael Tyler in a statement to The Hill.
The ad is part of Biden’s broader strategy to differentiate himself from Trump on gun policy, as reported by The Reload. By emphasizing his aggressive stance on gun control, Biden aims to reignite support among Democratic base voters, despite the risk of alienating less liberal swing voters or new gun-owning Democrats the gun-focused news outlet reports.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has not released any gun-related advertisements. However, the Second Amendment Foundation announced a nationwide ad campaign attacking Biden on gun issues. Alan Gottlieb, the group’s founder, told The Reload that the ads would run on cable networks, including CNN and Fox News, though he did not disclose the financial investment behind the effort.
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