President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was indicted on gun charges on Thursday bringing to the forefront frequent calls and moves from the president in recent years aimed at cracking down on illegal gun sales.
Hunter Biden was charged in Delaware on Thursday with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer, and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
During his presidency, the Biden White House has repeatedly called for crackdowns on illegal gun purchases and signed executive orders aimed at preventing the sale of illegal guns.
“The secondary consequences of the pandemic and the proliferation of illegal guns have led to increased violence over the past year and a half,” a senior administration official said in 2021 as Biden was rolling out measures aimed at stemming the flow of firearms used in crimes, after pledging to push for sweeping changes to firearms laws.
Additionally, the Biden administration has cracked down on gun dealers by stripping licenses away from dealers who have made paperwork mistakes on background checks.
“My message to you is this,” Biden said in 2021, addressing gun dealers who “willfully” break the law. “We will find you and we’ll seek your license to sell guns. We’ll make sure you can’t sell death and mayhem on our streets.”
