Biden mocked gun-rights advocates who say they need assault weapons to fight the government: ‘You need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons’

• Biden joked about people who say they need to own weapons to “take on the government.”
• He said people would need “F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons” to do so.
• In the speech, Biden outlined his administration’s plan to tackle gun violence in the US.
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President Joe Biden joked that people who think they needed guns to take on the US government would actually need nuclear weapons.

In a speech outlining his plan to combat gun violence on Wednesday, Biden said: “If you wanted or if you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons.”

Watch part of the speech here:

Biden also said there had always been limits on what kinds of weapons people could legally own: “The Second Amendment, from the day it was passed, limited the type of people who could own a gun and what type of weapon you could own. You couldn’t buy a cannon.”

“The point is that there has always been the ability to limit – rationally limit the type of weapon that can be owned and who can own it.”

Biden also said his administration would adopt a “zero tolerance” approach toward gun dealers who violate existing law. The president has long pushed for gun control legislation, including a ban on assault weapons.