Constitutional expert: President's gun plan could be Hunter Biden Act

Hunter Biden (ABC News video screenshot)

President Biden's new gun-control agenda -- announced Thursday to include new rules, regulations and limits -- might well be called the Hunter Biden Act because of a certain provision, according to constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley.

It's because of the president's demand for enhanced and expanded "red flag" laws.

The statutes allow someone, often a co-worker or a family member, to warn authorities about the "condition" of another person. Police then are legally allowed to confiscate any weapons that person may have.

There are several states, including Colorado, where the recent murder of 10 people at a grocery store took place, in which the provisions already are in force.

Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said it would be apt to name a legislative proposal based on the provision after the president's scandal-plagued son, Hunter.

"Biden is giving the Justice Department [a] 60-day period to develop model 'red flag' legislation that would allow friends and family members to identify an individual as a potential danger, thereby temporarily preventing the person from accessing a firearm," he said.

"That could well be called the Hunter Biden Act. … Hunter Biden acquired a handgun despite his long-standing drug and alcohol abuse as well as a history of depression. In 2018, the gun was tossed into a trash bin in Wilmington by Hallie Biden, widow of the deceased brother of Hunter. After the death of his brother Beau, Hunter began a sexual relationship with Hallie and she apparently became concerned about what he might do with the gun. That is precisely the concern for the Red Flag law. In many ways, her action reflected the need for such laws. In desperation, she threw the gun away but unfortunately chose a garbage bin not far from a school," Turley said.

It then got worse.

Should the president's gun-control plan be called the 'Hunter Biden Act'?

"To get the revolver back, Biden answered 'no' on the firearms transaction record that asked whether he was an 'unlawful user of, or addicted to' a narcotic drug or any other controlled substance. Lying on that federal form can lead to prosecution under several provisions. The United States code makes it a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison to 'make any false or fictitious oral or written statement' to obtain firearms," Turley wrote.

"Although prosecutions are rare, this should be a major story or at warrant media scrutiny. After all, the son of the president may have committed a federal felony and his father has been calling for greater expansion and enforcement of gun permitting laws. Now, the issue of unstable gun owners is one of core areas of President Biden’s new reforms," he said.

Turley noted that Biden's plans "are unlikely to have a significant impact on such massacres."

But he said it's notable that the plans would relate directly to the claims made against Hunter Biden.

Turley said the real question is whether or not the media will refocus on such issues.

"President Biden is now seeking a federal law to address precisely the situation that arose with his son. Even that might not make Hunter’s alleged violation newsworthy in today’s media environment. After imposing a virtual blackout on the Hunter Biden laptop story before the election, the media has published false accounts or barely addressed the controversy in a wide range of interviews on Hunter Biden’s new book 'Beautiful Things.' When it came to the alleged gun violation, the media avoided any direct questions about the denial of a drug addiction that, according to Biden’s interview and book account, continued until his father’s 2020 presidential campaign."

He said the media similarly has failed to address Hunter Biden's "influence peddling" and and other issues.

"Biden life is a tragedy to be sure. Most of us feel great sympathy for his loss of his mother and sister as well as his brother. His addiction is hardly surprising given the painful chapters of his life," he said.

But "at every critical point where Hunter could be held accountable for criminal or unethical acts, he recedes into the claimed dark recesses of his memory."

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