NYT: Joe Biden ‘Faces Limits’ to Infringe upon Second Amendment 

The New York Times wrote Thursday that President Joe Biden “faces limits of his power” to infringe upon the Second Amendment — as the president vowed to curb the right to keep and bear arms.

Following multiple mass shootings in the last weeks, including Tuesday’s Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting, the Times admitted Biden is “caught” between “vowing to act and the reality that he cannot deliver on sweeping promises.”

The admission represents a dire position for the Democrat party, which has historically relied on the federal government instead of local and state governments to create sweeping national changes. For example, many Democrat political issues have become federalized issues, such as Critical Race Theory, abortion legalization, and policing policy.

The Democrats’ effort to implement “common sense” gun control is also directed at the federal level, where Biden “faces limits of his power” due to the United States’ form of government.

The Times recognized Biden’s limited ability to create massive changes without national consensus. “For Mr. Biden, the limitations on presidential authority — and the disappointment with legislative roadblocks — go back decades,” the Times noted.

“Biden’s staff said there were real limits on the executive power a president can wield, even in moments of national grief. He cannot ban military-style weapons or raise the age to purchase a rifle; such actions would require passing legislation in Congress,” the article said.

In a country of nearly 330 million people, the United States is nationally divided on gun policy. But that has not stopped states and local governments from implementing localized laws. Chicago and New York City have implemented strict gun restrictions, yet gun violence continues to spike in these cities. Conservative states have passed open-carry laws and avoided the massive gun violence experienced in Democrat-run municipalities.

In Chicago, 208 victims have already been killed in 2022, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in May. In New York City, there have so far been at least 105 citywide shooting incidents in 2022, the New York Police Department reported in May.

Meanwhile, in Montana, a permitless carry state, an average of 200 people die per year by the use of firearms. “86% of gun deaths are suicides and 9% are homicides. This is compared to 61% and 36% respectively, nationwide,” according to EveryStat for Gun Safety.

In Vermont, where open carry is legal and no license is required to open carry, 75 people die by guns on average per year. “88% of gun deaths in Vermont are by firearm suicide,” according to EveryStat for Gun Safety.

Biden’s limited power to infringe upon the Second Amendment has not stopped him from wheeling radical rhetoric after the Uvalde shooting, though the Times‘ noted “[h]e did not offer any answers” to reduce the violence.

“What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for except to kill someone?” Biden asked.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.