(PatrioticPost.com)- The president signed the country’s first major legislation related to gun control since back in 1994 over the weekend. And while the bill falls well short of what he was hoping to accomplish with gun control, President Biden is hoping to use it as a way to boost his own approval ratings and that of his party entering the midterm elections.
The bill received bipartisan support in the Senate, which is how it ultimately got passed. And, while it doesn’t accomplish everything Biden was hoping for, it is certainly a notch that he considers to be in the win column.
Democrats are likely to push for further gun control in the future, but for now, they’re hoping to use this more immediate victory as a way to get more voters on their side in November’s midterm elections.
As Michael Stratton, a strategist for Democrats, commented recently:
“Biden will do well by this bill. I think the Democrats should do well by it, but I believe there are still a lot of people in a lot of places that are still quite concerned about gun violence.
“This will be helpful to Biden, but this is not the last chapter in this issue.”
In other words, Stratton believes that Democrats will be able to use this bill to convince voters that much more is needed in the realm of gun control. And, if Democrats are able to not only retain control of Congress but increase their lead — especially in the Senate — they can go further on the issue.
When he signed the bill, Biden admitted that it was watered down from what he was ultimately hoping to sign. One particular area of concern was the lack of a ban on assault weapons.
At the same time, he believes the bill is a positive step in the right direction. As he said before he signed the bill:
“This bill doesn’t do everything I want but includes actions I’ve long called for that save lives.”
Following the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, 14 Republicans in the House and 15 in the Senate jumped on board to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Now, Democrats are hoping to use that as one of two major talking points as the midterm elections draw nearer. The other major issue is a woman’s federal right to abortion, which was taken away by the Supreme Court last week in their decision in a highly controversial case out of Mississippi.
Liberals are hoping to use both of those issues to energize voters come November, but David Carney, a Republican strategist, doubts that’s going to work. As he explained:
“It’s going to have no impact in November. The [gun control bill] is nothing like what he initially talked about. The Republicans ran roughshod over the Democrats during negotiations because they were so desperate to pass something …
“Ultimately, because of the economy and because of the deep hole that he’s in, Biden and the Democrats don’t have a clue.”
