Biden calls for ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines in SOTU speech

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Sen. Cotton on Biden’s SOTU address: I hope he announces no more half-measures on Russian sanctions

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., weighs in on President Biden’s performance ahead of his State of the Union speech.

President Joe Biden renewed his call for the banning of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in his State of the Union address.

"I ask Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence," Biden said during his first official State of the Union Address on Tuesday night. "Pass universal background checks. Why should anyone on a terrorist list be able to purchase a weapon? Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines."

U.S. President Joe Biden during a State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Biden's first State of the Union address comes against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions placed on Russia by the U.S. and its allies. (Jim LoScalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"You think the deer are wearing a kevlar vest?" Biden said, going off the pre-released transcript of the speech. 

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Biden added a call to "repeal the liability shield that makes gun manufacturers the only industry in America that can’t be sued."

"These laws don’t infringe on the Second Amendment," Biden said.  "They save lives."

Biden’s comments immediately received criticism from conservatives on social media who have often accused his administration of attempting to infringe on the Second Amendment.

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"Joe Biden wants to take your guns," Republican Rep. Jim Banks tweeted shortly after Biden made the comment about guns. 

President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Washington. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP) (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP)

"Biden wants your guns," Young Americans for Liberty tweeted.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie labeled Biden’s claim about liability for gun manufacturers as a "lie."

"Big Biden Lie: gun manufacturers are the only industry that can’t be sued," Massie tweeted. "Truth: If guns malfunction, the manufacturers can be sued. Not so with vaccines!"

"Biden is just lying about the ‘liability shield’ for firearms manufacturers," radio host and former CIA analyst Buck Sexton tweeted. "No other industry is made liable for criminal misuse of their product. But his base is full of hysterics who hate gun owners, so facts don’t matter."

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President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Washington. (Saul Loeb, Pool via AP) (Saul Loeb, Pool via AP)

Biden's remarks about gun control were praised by many liberals on Twitter including Democrat Congresswoman Gwen Moore.

"Thankful for @potus speaking on meaningful ways to reduce gun violence, such as passing universal background checks and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines," Moore tweeted during the speech. "We need these measures now."

Biden has repeatedly called for banning assault weapons including in a speech last month when he claimed that no amendment is "absolute." 

"We talk like. There’s no amendment that’s absolute," Biden said. "When the amendment was passed it didn’t say anybody can own a gun, any kind of gun, and any kind of weapon. You couldn’t buy a cannon when this amendment was passed so there’s no reason why you should be able to buy certain assault weapons. But that’s another issue."

Biden's claim regarding the specifics of cannons being banned has been widely questions on social media and was given "Four Pinocchios" from the Washington Post in 2021.