Actually, crime is down. Gun violence and murder rates are up.
Guns. I'm the only guy that ever got passed legislation, when I was a senator, to make sure we eliminated assault weapons. The idea you need a weapon that can have the ability to fire 20,30,40,50, 120 shots from that weapon, whether it's a 9mm pistol or whether it's a rifle is ridiculous. I'm continuing to push to eliminate the sale of those things, but I'm not likely to get that done in the near term.
So here's what I've done. The people who in fact are using those weapons are acquiring them illegally. Illegally. And so what happens is I've gotten ATF--Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. I had them increase their budget and increase their capacity along with the Justice Department to go after the gun shops that are not abiding by the law of doing background checks. For real. That's number one.
Biden elaborates on what firearms he wants to ban
1This was at a CNN "town hall" on 7/21.