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Personal U.S. Senator from Delaware 47th Vice President of the United States Vice presidential campaigns 46th President of the United States Tenure   | ||
"Buy a shotgun" is a phrase spoken by thenVice-President of the United StatesJoe Biden during a video question and answer session hosted byParents Magazine in 2013. During the session, Biden questioned the utility of asemi-automatic rifle as a home defense weapon, suggesting ashotgun was more appropriate. He went on to explain that he owned two shotguns and had advised theSecond Lady of the United States,Jill Biden, to use one of them to "fire two blasts" should she feel threatened by someone or something. The advice later became a subject of interest in social media and popular culture.
In January 2013, during an interactive chat session on the social networking siteGoogle+, then vice-president of the United States Joe Biden responded to a question about personal protection in the wake of a natural disaster by explaining the prudence in buying "some shotgun shells" to repel looters.[1]
"You know, it's harder to use an assault weapon to hit something than it is a shotgun, OK. So if you want to keep people away in an earthquake, buy some shotgun shells."[2]
The following month, Biden was interviewed byField & Stream, during which he said ownership of semi-automatic rifles was unnecessary for persons who owned shotguns since they would be able "to keep someone away" from their home by firing "the shotgun through the door".[3] The interview was published on February 25, though conducted earlier in the month.[3][4]
Later, on February 19, Biden hosted a question and answer session withParents Magazine on the social networking siteFacebook.[1][5] During the session, the topic ofgun control was raised.[5] Biden noted that he personally owned two shotguns and had advised Jill Biden that "if there's ever a problem" to walk outside their home and "fire two blasts".[1][6] Biden also explained that he felt shotguns were more appropriate for personal security than anAR-15 which, he said, was more difficult to aim and use.[1] He concluded by stating, "Buy a shotgun! Buy a shotgun!"[1][5][6]
In 2020, responding to criticism from aDetroit autoworker who confronted him about gun control policies, Biden explained his two shotguns were in calibers12-gauge and20-gauge.[7]
Biden's remarks during his Facebook session, according toCNN, "unleashed a torrent of online reaction" onsocial media.[8]
TheWilmington, Delaware police department – in whose jurisdiction it is believed Biden's shotguns were stored[a] – advised that it was illegal for residents to discharge firearms on their property unless "you really feel that your life is being threatened".[9] Former Delaware deputy attorney general John Garey also advised residents not to follow Biden's advice to "fire two blasts" due to Delaware self-defense statutes which required a person have a reasonable fear of "imminent death" before resorting to deadly force.[9] Somegun rights advocates also opined that they felt Biden's advice was legally reckless.[9][10]
Kathleen Jennings, a prosecutor at the Delaware Department of Justice, disagreed with assessments that Biden's advice was unsound noting that "in Delaware, a person can legally fire a weapon to protect themselves and others from someone intruding onto her dwelling".[10] Questioned byThe Washington Post whether her reading of the law was colored by the fact that Biden's son,Beau Biden, was at the time the head of the Delaware Department of Justice, Jennings rejected the suggestion and noted she had spent 32 years as both a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney.[10][11]
Regarding the efficacy of a shotgun as a personal security device, Jeff Johnston wrote inAmerican Hunter that "Biden had it partially right when he said shotguns are good for self-defense," but objected to Biden's specific advice to use a double-barreled shotgun.[12]
AWashington state man was put on trial in November 2013 for illegal discharge of a firearm after he fired a shotgun blast to deter car thieves on his property the previous summer.[13] During his trial, the man pleaded in his defense that "I did what Joe Biden told me to do" but was convicted in a jury trial nonetheless.[13][14] The defense claim was later referred to by some media as the "Joe Biden defense".[14]
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