White House refuses to comment on reports that Hunter Biden will challenge federal gun law

By 
 June 4, 2023

While President Joe Biden has long supported restricting gun rights, a decision by his son's lawyers could make that harder to do.

According to Fox News, the White House is refusing to comment on reports that Hunter Biden's legal team will challenge a federal law that bans drug addicts from purchasing firearms. 

Hunter Biden bought a gun in 2018 while addicted to crack cocaine

At issue is a 2018 incident in which Hunter Biden purchased a handgun from a Delaware store. The weapon was subsequently left in a supermarket dumpster located close to a school by his sister-in-law and then-girlfriend Hallie Biden.

Federal law prohibits "an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance" from acquiring a firearm and Biden has a well-publicized history of using crack cocaine and other illegal drugs.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr told CBS News anchor Catherine Herridge late last month that he expects the president's son to face charges in connection with the matter.

Supreme Court decision limits the ability to restrict guns

However, a Supreme Court ruling from last year called New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen broadened gun rights.

It determined that any restrictions on firearms must be consistent with those which were in place at the time of America's founding.

Fox News noted that the White House  refused on Friday to answer questions relating to whether Hunter Biden's attorneys would cite the case in his defense, saying,

"I'm not going to get into a tit-for-tat on this," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was quoted as saying. "I'm just not going to."

President slammed Supreme Court decision

Such a move could lead to an embarrassing situation for Joe Biden, as Fox News recalled how the president said he was "deeply disappointed" by the Supreme Court's holding in Bruen.

"Since 1911, the State of New York has required individuals who would like to carry a concealed weapon in public to show a need to do so for the purpose of self-defense and to acquire a license," Biden said in an official statement.

"More than a century later, the United States Supreme Court has chosen to strike down New York’s long-established authority to protect its citizens."

"This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all," he went on to insist.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson
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