Thread by @AmySwearer

Alrighty. Fact checking the president's speech re: gun control. I hope ya'll held onto your hats because he took you for a ride.

(1) We're not in a gun violence epidemic under any meaningful use of the word "epidemic." Gun homicide and gun crime rates are far lower today than in the 1990s. There's still work to be done, especially for gun suicide, but the data doesn't show an "epidemic."

(2) Speaking of the 1990s crime decline, it had nothing to do with the federal assault weapons ban. The official report on that ban literally said that its renewal would have little effect, as these guns were rarely used in crime even BEFORE the ban.

(2)(A) ...which is why, even though Americans have purchased millions of these guns since the ban lapsed in 2004, crime rates didn't shoot back up to pre-ban levels. Shocking, I know. They're still rarely used in crime after the ban expired, too.

(3) Holy [expletive]. No, "high capacity" magazines don't suddenly enable semi-auto rifles to fire 100 rounds "in seconds." This is a lie. The rate of fire for ALL semi-autos for normal shooters is roughly 45-65 rounds per MINUTE. 100 per MINUTE if you're *really* good.

(3)(a) He is intentionally conflating semi-autos with their fully automatic [and heavily regulated] counterparts, which CAN fire 600-800 rounds per minute. But in no world does a factory standard 30 round mag get you to 100 rounds in "seconds" with a semi-auto.

(4) Notice that the President talks about 100-round drum magazines when referring to "high capacity" mags. He wants you to think those fairly atypical and non-standard mags are what he's interesting in banning, not turning you into a felon for a factory-standard 15/30 round mag.

(5) No, the majority of gun owners absolutely do not support bans on semi-automatic rifles deemed "assault weapons." He's been called out on this by even left-leaning fact checkers. He keeps saying it.

(6) When talking about support for UBCs, it's important to remember that support for expanded background checks does NOT mean support for a specific bill, especially when that specific bill criminalizes the most common, temporary, and low-risk transfers without paying an FFL.

(7) Yes, the 2A is not unlimited. No, banning millions of commonly owned semi-automatic rifles that are rarely used in crime is NOT comparable to laws about yelling false fire alarms in crowded theaters. It's comparable to banning theaters. And that's unconstitutional.

(8) Courtesy of the @LatinoRifleOrg, Biden's joke about deer with Kevlar vests is hilarious because an AR-15 round [.223/5.56] is less powerful than...well...any round you'd use to hunt deer.

It's also irrelevant because the Second Amendment isn't about hunting.