In an interview given on February 19 and published by the White House video channel the following day, the Vice President also stated, that mainly background checks of legal weapon owners could prevent the use of weapons by unreliable, convicted or brainsick persons.
Help for parents, school safety. Talking to an editor of Parents Magazine, Biden repeatedly pointed to the importance of keeping weapons away from children at home. He said that no one could be forbidden to have a loaded weapon at home when he was there. But when leaving the home, the weapons should be locked away. It was common sense to keep the weapons out of reach of childen and strangers – as one does with sweets.
Biden mentioned the help of the health care system for parents whose childen are mentaly disturbed. While doing so he indirectly acknowledged this as a reason for the crimes commited by youngsters.
Another step towards better gun safety is a better information of the public about physical school safety. Biden mentioned the school resource officers who were able to avoid illegal drug and weapon deals at school. The vice president stated that it was not usefull to protect schools like government buildings. Schools were safe, dangerous was the area in front of them. Such armed guards would foster a siege mentality that could have a negative influence on the development of the children.
The Vice President conceded that all theses measures could not prevent the illegal use of weapons in the US society.
One question of a Parents reader aimed at the point if parents should check the backround ot their childens friends parents, meaning if those had weapons. Biden took himself as an example: It always hat been af major importance for him if these parents had a swimming pool or a liquor cabinet that they were locked well.
Safety and control by the state. Biden said, that nobody wanted to take anyone's guns away. The actual discussion was not about gun control but gun safety and the background check. For Biden that’s also a good tool to get the illegal weapons from the streets (even if such checks don‘t reach the illegals). As Biden said at the moment such background checks were part of 60 % of the legal weapon deals in the US. He advocated a national gun traffic registration. As police officers had told him the most illegal weapons were stolen ones. Biden also advocated the duty to notify if a weapon was stolen.
A comparison of drugs and weapons is not unsefull for Biden.
A female reader of Parents magazine asked, if Biden saw a connection between the most restrictive gun laws in Chicago and the highest murder rate of the whole US there. The vice president quoted that most of the weapons there were coming from the neighbouring states. Only a universal sanity via background check could solve this problem.
„Buy a shotgun“. Biden told the audience of his father and the weapon culture in his country. It was impossible to rule Gun safety via law. Curious kids should not get in contact with a gun; if so, they should be educated properly.
By the way he mentioned that he had two shotguns himself, locked in a vault. His answer on the question, if the ban of certain types of weapons and high capacity magazines would have influence on the safety of families, he said literally: „Kate, if you want to protect yourself, get a double barreled shotgun, have the shells of a 12 gauge shotgun and I promise you as I told my wife, we live in an area that‘s wooded (...) said Gill, if there’s ever a problem, just walk out the balcony, put that double barreled shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house (...) Buy a shotgun, buy a shotgun“. Even if Biden then stated that an AR-15 was not needed for self defense this is a remarkable statement – imagine this was coming from Downing Street 10, London, the Elysée palace, Paris, or the Bundeskanzleramt at Berlin ...
The Constitution. The second amendment was also part of that interview. Biden doesn’t see a reason to modify that. The federal government had already the possibility to ban some kinds of weapons from civil use. If everybody was able to own everything, also flame throwers, machine-guns, tanks or armed jetplanes could be bought by civilians, he suggests. The politician then defined „assault weapons“: 30 rounds „high calibre“ ammunition and folding stock. Following the military definition of „high calibre“ is above .50 but Biden then mentions expressis verbis the AR-15 calibre . 223 Rem. as useless for self and home defense. Magazines with 10 rounds were good, with 30 rounds bad.
The Vice President also mixes up legal purposes and illegal use of weapons: He quotes police officers who feel outgunned in the streets; that’s why „high caliber weapons“ – obviously meant are „high capacity weapons“ should be banned. But legal home defense has nothing to do with „outgunning“ police officers in the streets.
The importance of brutal games and video. At the end of the interview a Parents reader asks what role brutal computer games, videos and TV had in gun crimes. An actual news was stating that this fact had been given with the Newtown shooter. Biden confirms that there had been a study saying so but that there was no hard data.
You can find the interview on Youtube.
Joe Biden is member of the Democrats. His fellow party member Sen. Dianne Feinstein submitted a bill that if becoming law wold ban all semiautomatic weapons, meaning rifles and Pistols.
