Biden to seek assault weapons ban in waning days of Dems’ control of Congress
The Democratic party’s presidential nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, is planning to use the last weeks of his tenure in power to push for an assault weapons ban.
The move comes after a month-long blitz of attacks against President Donald Trump on social media and in speeches, some of which have included the violent language of his supporters.
Biden is set to announce his plan on May 15, less than two weeks before the Democrat’s party has a clear majority in the House as well as the Senate.
The former vice president has said he intends to push for a complete ban on the sale of assault weapons, along with other measures that Democrats say can lower the overall number of guns in the U.S. The proposals would not change access to guns by the armed forces or law enforcement, they say.
Trump has said he still plans to sign legislation that will tighten background checks on gun sales and prevent gun trafficking, even though Biden has not formally introduced his gun ideas.
Biden has also said he will unveil an assault weapons ban in May, but his announcement is likely to become a distraction from the larger debate over gun control, especially following a week in which Attorney General William Barr and other Trump administration officials have drawn the president’s ire.
The former vice president said “a lot of things have to happen” in coming weeks, particularly with the Democratic party’s prospects in the House and Senate looking shaky and the president himself having taken steps toward a political battle over his response to the White House’s investigation of the president’s 2016 campaign.
“It is going to be my top priority,” Biden said in an interview after a trip to Poland.
“All of the things that I’ve set forth—because no one can do this alone—that we have a chance to make an impact on, is what I’m going to be working on in the coming week and the next few weeks while I’m still in the White House.”
Democratic Party leaders are planning for the possibility of a Biden run in the coming days, as they move toward a general election and begin to put together the campaign staff that will help with campaigning through the rest of the