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.’
In 2021, Biden’s Justice Department launched an anti-gun trafficking initiative meant to stem the flow of illegal guns throughout the United States.
‘I have already taken more executive action to reduce gun violence than any other president, and I will continue to pursue every legal and effective action,’ Biden wrote in an op-ed this spring. ‘But my power is not absolute. Congress must act, including by banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, requiring gun owners to securely store their firearms, requiring background checks for all gun sales, and repealing gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability. We also need more governors and state legislators to take these steps.’
In July, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed by a reporter about President Biden’s steadfast support for stricter gun laws throughout his political career, and asked if he believed ‘someone who is charged with possessing a firearm illegally should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,’ referencing Hunter.
The reporter pressed Jean-Pierre, noting Biden’s previous work on gun legislation and his comments on getting ‘illegal firearms off of our streets.’ ‘So when someone possesses one illegally, what does the president believe should happen today?’ the reporter asked.
‘The president has been very clear. You just laid out where his position has been, what his policies have been, what he was able to pass into law. I’m going to be very mindful here. I’m going to be very careful because I see where this question is going,’ Jean-Pierre responded.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Hunter Biden could potentially be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Reuters and Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
