As part of his plan to curb gun violence in America, former Vice President Joe Biden is proposing that owners of assault-style weapons either sell their firearms through a voluntary buyback program or register their weapons with the government.
The proposal is part of a wide-ranging plan the Democratic presidential candidate unveiled Wednesday ahead of his appearance at a gun safety forum in Nevada.
Biden, like many of his rivals for the nomination, is calling for a ban on assault-style weapons. For current owners who don’t sell them back, the former vice president proposes that such weapons be regulated under the National Firearms Act, which was enacted in the 1930s to cut down on gangland violence during the Prohibition era.
The Biden campaign, in announcing the plan, said “the National Firearms Act requires individuals possessing machine-guns, silencers and short-barreled rifles to undergo a background check and register those weapons with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Due to these requirements, such weapons are rarely used in crimes.”
The former vice president’s plan also calls for banning high capacity magazines as well as assault-style weapons, closing loopholes in background checks before firearms purchases, banning the online sale of guns, eliminating legal protections that currently protect gun manufacturers from being held legally liable if their weapons are used in mass shootings and allowing states to implement “red flag” laws. – READ MORE