Sangamon Sun

Illinois state Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) does not see how President Joe Biden can make good on his promise to ban assault weapons across the country.

The Center Square reported in March that since taking over at the White House, Biden has moved to enact several executive actions pushing the boundaries of his constitutional authority, including imposing an eviction moratorium and COVID-19 mandates, prompting legal challenges and rulings crafted to rein in his pushing agenda. He recently came under fire for pledging to ban assault weapons.

The Sangamon Sun reached out to McClure for his opinion on the president's vow to ban assault weapons. McClure said that Biden would have to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling on some current cases regarding gun control.

"We’re going to have some cases before the Supreme Court soon on the 2nd Amendment," McClure tole the Sun. "So Joe Biden and everyone needs to wait for that before they start making these declarations that go against our Constitution."

McClure does not believe the president has the right to infringe on Second Amendment rights, saying, "It’s a right guaranteed to all of us by our Constitution, which is why we have to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling."

To ensure that their Second Amendment rights are protected, the senator urges legal gun owners to keep informed about the federal gun cases.

"That’s what’s going to be what decides everything as to what the law is nationwide," he told the Sun.

McClure believes that the Biden administration is focusing on the wrong issues regarding gun control.

"We have a right to bear arms and it’s really bizarre that we have these states that do nothing about many of our citizens getting murdered in the streets and only want to target law-abiding gun owners," he said.

In January, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced the Assault Weapons Ban, proposed legislation that would “ban the sale, transfer, manufacture and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and other high-capacity ammunition feeding devices,” The Center Square said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has bolstered gun rights by taking steps to strike down a New York gun law that required residents to prove they had “proper cause” to obtain a permit to carry a firearm outside the home. Chief Justice John Roberts penned the court’s ruling, stating it “recognized that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the right of an ordinary, law-abiding citizen to possess a handgun in the home for self-defense.”