Joe Biden Focuses On Gun Control When Meeting With Mayors [Video]

Vice President Joe Biden shared his thoughts on gun control during a meeting with mayors from around the country on Thursday. During his address, the Vice President maintained that both he and President Barack Obama support the Second Amendment. Biden noted that the plan to fight gun violence goes beyond the enactment of new gun restrictions.

Much like President Obama’s speech when outlining his executive orders on Wednesday, Biden also appeared to focus heavily on hunting and outdoor sports in relations to gun rights. The topic of using firearms for personal safety or to protect a home or business does not appear to have been mentioned much in either man’s speech.

The vice president also noted that “we” have to act and hoped everyone could agree there is a need to respond to the “carnage” in the school and on the streets, CBS News reports.

Vice President Joe Biden had this to say to America’s mayors, according to excerpts republished by Yahoo News:

“We recognize how different all our states and cities are. How different the gun culture is, a healthy gun culture – in rural America than in urban America. This isn’t just about guns. Forty percent of people who buy guns today do so outside the background check system. As one hunter told me, if you got 12 rounds, it means you’ve already missed the deer 11 times. You don’t deserve to have a gun if you need that many rounds.”

The last part of the Biden quote was reportedly stated in a joking manner. The 40 percent of guns statistics did not include a report or study reference citation. The vice president also noted that, due to the popularity of duck hunting in Delaware, his home state, the area also has high gun ownership.

Some gun rights advocates have argued that strengthening backgrounds checks would not have deterred the tragic Newtown massacre or would help decrease the crime rate. Adam Lanza used a firearm his mother had purchased legally. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Webster firefighters shooter in New York knew his felon status would prevent him from buying a gun, so he had someone else buy the weapon for him.

Biden also argued that there is no reason for a potential criminal to buy a gun from a store or seller who requires a background check when he can find a “loophole” to buy a weapon without a check. Some gun rights advocates have voiced concerns that the background check loopholes could impede leaving a gun in a will or other types of family interactions.

Do you think that closing the background check loopholes would decrease the sale of illegal guns and crime?