Biden’s full statement recounted the January 8, 2011, attack, which killed six and left Giffords and others wounded, then transitioned to praising Giffords for the gun control work she undertook after the incident.

The statement concluded: “As President, I pledge to continue to work together with Congresswoman Giffords, and with survivors, families, and advocates across the country, to defeat the NRA and end the epidemic of gun violence in America.”

Biden campaigned for the presidency on a platform of defeating the NRA. In fact, when he released an overview of his gun control proposals, they included a reference to his opposition to the NRA.

On October 2, 2019, Newsweek reported the proposals, along with the corresponding statement from the Biden team, which said:

Joe Biden has taken on the National Rifle Association (NRA) on the national stage and won–twice. In 1993, he shepherded through Congress the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which established the background check system that has since kept more than 3 million firearms out of dangerous hands.

In 1994, Biden–along with Senator Dianne Feinstein–secured the passage of 10-year bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. As president, Joe Biden will defeat the NRA again.

Ironically, the 1993 gun control referenced by the Biden team was the adoption of background checks for all retail gun sales. The individual who shot Gabby Giffords acquired his gun by passing one of those background checks and purchasing a handgun at a store in Tucson, Arizona.

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