The White House declined to confirm on Wednesday whether President Joe Biden would endorse the confiscation of firearms categorized as “assault weapons,” leaving many to question the current administration’s intent regarding the issue.
During his campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination, Beto O’Rourke took a stronger stance on gun control than any of his competitors, promising that if elected president, he would supervise the confiscation of certain firearms.
“Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” O’Rourke railed during a primary debate. “We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.”
During a press briefing on Wednesday, a reporter inquired with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about whether Biden would endorse radical measures to avert future mass shootings. Biden endorses gun control and a ban on “assault weapons,” The Blaze noted.
“Does the president support not just banning the sale and manufacture of semi-automatic weapons but, further than that, confiscation?” the reporter asked.
Rather than delivering a clear and balanced response, Jean-Pierre provided an ambiguous answer that is subject to interpretation and could imply that Biden may endorse the confiscation of certain firearms.
“Let me just be very clear: What we’re talking about — AR-15s, the assault weapons ban — they are weapons of war, and they should not be on the streets across the country in our communities,” she explained. “They should not be in schools. They should not be in grocery stores. They should not be in churches.
“That’s what the president believes,” Jean-Pierre noted further. “He’s happy to sign that legislation that says, ‘OK, we’re going to remove assault weapons. We’re going to have an assault weapons ban.'”
But she did not elaborate on the phrase “remove assault weapons,” and the reporter did not follow up, leaving an air of confusion and ambiguity, which was probably intentional.
That said, Jean-Pierre did say that it is “unacceptable” to say that “there’s nothing that we can do” because of the large number of semi-automatic rifles currently in private hands.
