Joe Biden's AR-15 Plan Puts Republicans in a Jam

President Joe Biden has renewed his call for a ban on AR-15 assault rifles following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, putting Republicans in a jam.

On July 13, a gunman—whom the FBI has identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20—opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, clipping the former president in his right ear. The AR-15 used in the shooting had been purchased legally by Crooks' father six months earlier. In Pennsylvania, shotguns and rifles, including the AR-15, can be purchased at age 18, while the minimum age to purchase handguns is 21.

"An AR-15 was used in the shooting of Donald Trump, just as it was the assault weapon that killed so many others, including children. It's time to outlaw them," Biden said in Las Vegas on Tuesday, while speaking at the 115th NAACP National Convention.

"I did it once, and I will do it again," he added, possibly referencing his involvement in passing the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired 10 years later.

Biden's call for an AR-15 ban could put Republican gun rights proponents in the difficult position of voting against a ban on the weapon that could have killed Trump.

Despite narrowly surviving the assassination attempt, Trump has said he will continue to protect gun rights if he is reelected in November, a senior adviser to his presidential campaign said on Tuesday.

The adviser added that Trump plans to safeguard gun rights by appointing federal judges who oppose new firearm limits.

"We'll see a continuation of supporting and defending the Second Amendment, and really where that comes into play is, you know, the judiciary," Chris LaCivita told Reuters at an event hosted by the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, a gun rights group, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Newsweek has contacted the White House and Donald Trump for comment via online form.

Reuters reported that a dozen Republican Party delegates at the convention said they were against any reform to the U.S.'s gun laws—including raising the legal age to buy a gun, strengthening background checks or limiting assault-style rifles similar to the one used in the assassination attempt on Trump.

The delegates said any changes should focus on funding better mental health support for troubled citizens.

"It's all about mental health," Will Boone, a delegate from Montana, told the outlet. "The right to have a gun is enshrined in the Constitution. Once you start infringing on that, you'll start other rights being taken away."

Steve Kramer, from Georgia, said expanded background checks would not help, calling the idea a "lie."

"If you look at most of the killings, someone stole the gun, so background checks wouldn't matter," Kramer said.

About 16 million Americans—or one in 20 adults—own at least one AR-15-style rifle, polling from Ipsos and The Washington Post found. The rifles—which were initially developed as a military weapon before becoming one of the most popular guns in the U.S.—have also been used in at least 10 of the 17 deadliest mass shootings since 2012.

In 2012, a gunman armed with an AR-15 assault-type weapon and two handguns killed 20 elementary school children in Connecticut. Efforts to pass universal background checks and an assault weapons ban after the shooting were defeated by Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

While president, Trump also tried several times to loosen gun laws, signing into law a bill that reversed an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illness to purchase guns.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, has made more than 70 calls to Congress to renew the assault weapons ban, The Independent reported.

In his speech on Tuesday, Biden repeated calls to "lower the temperature" in American politics and "condemn violence of any kind."