
President Joe Biden talks about his gun-related accomplishments at the Every town for Gun Safety Action Fund’s “Gun Sense University” at the Washington Hilton.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden rattled off a list of gun-related accomplishments during his administration, prompting huge cheers from hundreds in the audience Tuesday at a Washington conference hosted by the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund.
He also called for a ban on assault-style weapons and universal background checks for firearms purchases.
Biden’s speech came as his son Hunter was convicted Tuesday of three charges for lying on a federal gun-purchase form in 2018 when he said he was not a drug user.
The president was leaving from the event to head to Delaware to be with his son and family. He did not mention his son during his address.
“We need you,” Biden told the crowd.
“We need you to overcome the unrelenting opposition of the gun lobby.”
Biden’s campaign says gun control could be a motivating issue for suburban college-educated women who might be decisive in several key battlegrounds this fall.
The Democratic campaign and its allies have already circulated clips of former President Donald Trump saying, “We have to get over it,” after an Iowa school shooting in January and then telling NRA members in May that he “did nothing” on guns during his presidency.
Asked for comment, the Trump campaign pointed to the former president’s previous statements promising no new gun regulations if he returns to the White House.
Trump has spoken twice this year at NRA events and was endorsed by the group in May.
He alleged that Biden “has a 40-year record of trying to rip firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.”
His campaign and the Republican National Committee also announced the creation of a Gun Owners for Trump coalition that includes gun-rights activists and those who work in the firearms industry.