Headline RoundupJune 1st, 2022

Biden's Comments on 9mm Handguns, 2nd Amendment Draw Scrutiny

Summary from the AllSides News Team

President Joe Biden's recent remarks about handguns and gun laws sparked criticism from fact-checkers and conservative voices.

Speaking to reporters at the White House Monday after meeting with Uvalde shooting victims' families, Biden said that when he visited a New York trauma hospital 20-25 years ago and asked why the death rate had gone up, a trauma doctor told him that "a 9mm bullet blows the lung out of the body." Biden then said there is "no rational basis" for owning "high caliber" weapons for self-protection or hunting. He also drew a historical comparison, and falsely claimed that people couldn't buy cannons when the 2nd Amendment was passed. According to Shooting Industry magazine, 9mm pistols accounted for 57% of all U.S.-made handguns in 2019. The Beretta M9, a semiautomatic 9mm handgun, is the service pistol used by the United States Armed Forces.

Right-rated outlets covered Biden remarks prominently. Many framed his characterization of 9mm handguns as misleading; highlighted how 9mm handguns are used widely by civilians; and pointed out how Biden's 2nd Amendment comment had been deemed false by fact checkers across the spectrum for concealed carry and self-protection. Some conservative voices and politicians accused Biden of encouraging a ban on handguns similar to the one recently proposed in Canada. Few left-rated outlets covered the remarks. Those that did, such as the Washington Post, didn't offer other context or scrutiny of Biden's remarks about handguns and the 2nd Amendment. 

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