Biden: Gun manufacturers, 'not the NRA,' are the 'enemy'

[Celerity]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/450807-biden-enemy-is-gun-manufacturers-not-the-nra

Joe Biden said Thursday that gun manufacturers, not the National Rifle Association (NRA), are the Democratic Party's "enemy" in its efforts to reform gun control laws. Biden's remarks came during the second of the first two Democratic presidential primary debates after the former vice president rattled off a slate of his accomplishments from his time in the Senate and Obama administration.

Biden cited his efforts in banning assault rifles and expanding background checks, adding that he would explore a buyback program for assault rifles. He went on to call for smart guns to include biometric readers, but said gun manufacturers were an obstacle in achieving that goal.

“Last thing, we should have smart guns. No gun should be able to be sold unless your biometric measure can pull that trigger. It’s within our right to do that, we can do that, our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the NRA,” he said. Biden's campaign quickly doubled down on the comment in a subsequent tweet.

“The members of the NRA are not our opponents — the vast majority of them support common-sense reforms, including universal background checks. The gun manufacturers who bankroll the NRA are our opponent. As president, Biden will defeat them,” the campaign tweeted from Biden’s account.

snip

[ancianita]

1. His weakest moment. Otherwise, he was in my top four by the end.

[Perseus]

5. He had more weak moments than that one

At least three to be generous.

1. The one Kamala Harris challenged him on.
2. The one that Michael Bennet challenged him on about his fantasy of working with repubs. That deal was not a good deal for Democrats, Michael Bennet is right.

Biden will be destroyed by republicans, he has so much baggage I don't understand what people see in him, he will not beat the buffoon. I can see him agreeing with the buffoon during debates, not 100% but enough to loose.

I froze when I heard him say its the gun manufacturers and not the NRA. Is the NRA giving his campaign money?

[ancianita]

11. I don't agree.

I think the GOTV numbers will depend on his running mate, AND, the base knows that judging him by the context of his past in no way proves he hasn't done progressive work. He has.

RE your points,

1. He answered her with not only the "local decision," reality of that time, but that he, before and after that time, passed legislation that advanced the Civil Rights Act.

2. Only one bipartisan effort did he get "played" on. So yes, Bennett scored a point. But on the other legislation, Biden was factually accurate in being able to get bipartisan work done that was constructive.

For Republicans to destroy him they'll have to imply that they're allied with Democratic criticisms. They won't.

RE he will not beat the buffoon. I can see him agreeing with the buffoon during debates, not 100% but enough to loose.

You have to point to real misjudgments or thought framings he has that will suffer at DJT's hands. I can't see how he can possibly be made to look weak in a Biden-Trump debate, so maybe your explanation can help pro-Biden people out here.

I froze, too. But his past gun legislation record offset it immediately; my broader knowledge of his assault weapon legislation got me to see that he's trying to appeal to hunters.

[Locrian]

19. I totally agree

Extremely vulnerable with all the baggage - and he doubles down on it.

[msongs]

2. many gun owners will agree with him nt

[gldstwmn]

4. They will but the majority of them are not Dems so it's irrelevant

and that opinion sucks.

[Celerity]

7. NRA in crisis: how the gun group became ensnared in the Russia inquiry

The Russia ties of NRA bigwigs are political and legal headaches that won’t go away

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/01/nra-russia-investigations-gun-lobby

many gun owners will agree with him nt

yep



An attendee inspects a rifle during the NRA annual meeting in Dallas, Texas. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

[gldstwmn]

3. I groaned when he said that. They fucking helped the Russians

mess with 2016. Has he ever heard of Maria Butina? I voted for Biden twice as VP but I am not impressed with what I have seen so far.

[Perseus]

6. I didn't vote for him as VP, I voted for Obama for President, and a great choice it was.

Biden as VP was irrelevant, the real ticket was Obama, and I voted for him, I figured Biden would not harm anyone as VP, plus I would have never voted for the republican candidates that run against Obama.

Biden should not be considered for the nomination, just today he goofed up a minimum of three times, he didn't tell the stories as they were, just glad Kamala Harris and Michael Bennet were able to point it out.

[mobeau69]

9. Yep.

Too damn much baggage. Rump will eat him alive.

[ancianita]

13. Trump can't eat any of our Top Five AT ALL. He's so fraught with baggage, ANY Dem's baggage looks

downright too complicated for his fraudulent, corrupt ass to stand up against.

There's NO way Trump can hurt any one of these candidates in a debate. He can only play on his superior access to info the readers of his admin give him.

He'll show himself to be the low class 6th grade bully he's always been.

Policy? Constitution? Governance? He doesn't know what those essentials of being president mean.

You give Trump way more credit than we all know he's ever earned in 70+ years of his rich, illiterate, calculating bubble life.

[mobeau69]

17. His supporters don't care about his baggage. The more the better to them.

Remember 2016.

We're dealing with a cult leader and his cult. Williamson, as spacey as she comes off, is onto something here. Pete has basically been warning us about this without the effect of acid in his delivery.

[Hoyt]

8. To be fair, gun manufacturers/profiteers are the NRA's main funding source, so much the same.

[highplainsdem]

10. Most NRA members do support common-sense reforms. That been known for years. NRA leadership

is much more radical and aligned with gun manufacturers.

Biden was correct to differentiate between the two.

[Celerity]

12. the vast majority of the NRA members now are gun-humpers and RW'ers

many 'reasonable' ones left long ago


Why More Than 90 Percent Of Gun Owners Don’t Join The NRA

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/01/nra-russia-investigations-gun-lobby


The NRA used to be much more bipartisan. Now it's mostly just a wing of the GOP

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/24/politics/nra-partisan-bipartisan-republican/index.html

[highplainsdem]

14. Polls done in the last few years show more than 70% of NRA members favoring gun control measures

that their leadership opposes.

[Celerity]

16. the NRA itself IS a clear and present danger, on multiple levels including being a Russian

money laundering op, and tossing in hundreds of millions to help elect Rethugs, and to gut any reasonable gun control.

They are literally the definition of an enemy, at multiple inflection points.

Trying to parse it out and say 'oh, some (I would challenge those numbers by the way, as the current membership damn well knows what the NRA stands for and does) are good people and support 'reasonable measures' smacks of the 'good people on both sides' tosh that Rump spews.

Biden is wrong, dead wrong, on this.

[Iliyah]

15. That is correct.

[RockRaven]

18. The NRA is a lobbying/propaganda group for the gun makers, not their members...

so if the gun manufacturers are "the enemy," then so is their public face... the NRA.

[wyldwolf]

20. Of course, he was referring to their members. I know that, you know that, readers know that.

We've officially entered the Greg Brady "Exact words" phase of the silly season.