US President Joe Biden spoke at a gun violence conference hours after a Delaware jury found Hunter Biden guilty of lying about using drugs to illegally buy a gun.
Biden spoke at the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund’s annual Gun Sense University conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Look, no single action can solve the entirety of the gun violence epidemic. But together our efforts, your efforts, are saving lives.
In the United States, more children die from firearms than from cancer and car accidents combined, Biden stated. The president stressed that he signed the most sweeping gun violence prevention bill into law in June 2022, a month after the mass shooting at a primary school in Uvalde, Texas.
It’s the most significant gun legislation in nearly 30 years.
Moreover, Biden said in a White House statement that he would accept the outcome of the case against his son Hunter Biden and continue to respect the judicial process while Hunter considered an appeal.
As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery.
The president’s statement came after a Delaware jury on Tuesday found his son Hunter Biden guilty on all three charges related to his 2018 gun purchase. At the time, Hunter was addicted to crack cocaine.
Hunter Biden found guilty
The jury concluded deliberations that began on Monday after closing arguments. According to multiple media reports, it took a group of 12 jurors from Monday to Tuesday about three hours to find Hunter Biden guilty of violating federal law six years ago when he bought a .38-calibre Colt Cobra handgun while lying about his addiction.
Prosecutors argued that junior Biden lied when he filled out a form to purchase a firearm at a Delaware gun shop. He then falsely certified that he was not addicted to any illegal drugs at the time.
The first two charges involved lying about his addiction. The third related to his possession of a gun while addicted to drugs. As a result, Biden faces up to 25 years in prison and a monetary fine of $750,000. The likelihood of the maximum sentence is low, as Biden is a first-time offender. A sentencing date has not been set yet.
First lady Jill Biden, who attended the trial that lasted about a week, arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday shortly after the jury reached its verdict.
The case went to trial after a plea deal on weapons and separate tax charges collapsed. Biden was indicted on three firearms-related counts last September. Another case of unrelated federal tax offences is due to go to trial in September.
In late February, Hunter Biden also appeared before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, testifying in private before Congress on his involvement in the corruption scandal around the Ukrainian company Burisma.
The Ukraine-based Burisma Holdings is owned by Mykola Zlochevsky, former minister of ecology and natural resources of Ukraine. It also had links to the US president’s family, as Hunter Biden joined its board in 2014.
