Joe Biden's suggestion to ban what he calls "assault weapons" and magazines with a capacity for holding 50-70 bullets, is a misguided way of attempting to diminish gun violence in the United States. While these types of firearms are not commonly used in crimes, handguns play a much larger role in gun deaths. In addition, this kind of proposal would do nothing to address the real causes behind gun violence, such as poverty, mental health concerns, and gang activity.
If we want to create effective changes that reduce the amount of gun violence present within our country, we need to look at the causes and try to resolve them. Poverty can be addressed through economic reforms or providing better access to employment opportunities; mental health issues can be tackled by increasing funding for initiatives such as suicide prevention; and gang activity can be curbed by implementing better educational programs or improving police-community relations. Undoubtedly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to reducing gun violence - rather, it requires multifaceted approaches and strategies tailored specifically to each problem.
BIDEN: "There is no rationale for assault weapons and magazines that hold 50-70 bullets." pic.twitter.com/06oggJuQb7
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 14, 2023
The term "assault weapon" is a misnomer; it does not accurately describe any particular type of firearm. Instead, it is an umbrella term for semi-automatic rifles with certain cosmetic features. These features have no bearing on the lethality of the weapon and are purely aesthetic in nature. Furthermore, many of these weapons are used for hunting and sport shooting, activities which pose no threat to public safety.
In addition, banning magazines that hold more than 50 rounds would be ineffective at reducing gun violence because most criminals use handguns with much smaller capacity magazines. It is also important to note that high-capacity magazines can be reloaded quickly with multiple smaller capacity magazines, thus, making a ban on high-capacity magazines largely symbolic in nature.
Finally, banning these types of firearms would do nothing to address the root causes of gun violence such as poverty, mental health issues, and gang activity. In order to effectively reduce gun violence in America we must focus our efforts on addressing these underlying issues rather than attempting to restrict access to firearms through ineffective bans on certain types of guns or magazine capacities.
It's clear that Joe Biden's proposal to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines will do little if anything to reduce gun violence in America. Instead, we should focus our efforts on addressing the root causes of gun violence by providing resources for those suffering from mental illness or living in poverty as well as cracking down on illegal gang activity. Only then can we begin to make meaningful progress towards reducing gun violence in America.