Just weeks after a plea agreement in relation to his active legal case fell through, it has emerged that Hunter Biden may have violated a gun law written by his own father.
District Judge Maryellen Noreika deferred the plea agreement last month, which would have spared Hunter jail time by pleading guilty to two tax misdemeanors in exchange for the prosecution dropping separate charges relating to unlawful possession of a firearm.
Judge Noreika questioned the leniency of the deal – known as a diversion agreement – citing concerns over why Hunter should be exempt from prosecution on a separate charge to his alleged failure to pay tax.
Facing a felony charge over false statements on a handgun application, in which Hunter allegedly declared he was not a drug user at the time despite evidence to the contrary, Judge Noreika expressed confusion on how admitting to tax fraud is relevant to a gun offense.
Somewhat embarrassingly, his father helped pen the aforementioned gun law 30 years ago.
The Brady Bill
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was first presented to Congress in 1987, and was enacted as an amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968 under the Clinton administration six years later.
The bill mandated a five-day waiting period prior to the sale of a handgun to an unlicensed individual in states that did not have their own established background check system.
For then-Senator Joe Biden, the bill was an important moment.
Seen by many as a tough-on-crime Democrat at the time, Biden championed the bill while chair of Senate Judiciary Committee, even publicly sponsoring it in front of fellow lawmakers.
“You wait five days to pick up your car when you buy it. You wait a day and a half to get your suit altered if you buy a new suit. What can be so urgent that you have to walk in, you need that gun today?” Biden said.
Biden and Bob Dole had multiple high-profile disagreements over the bill, which was designed to expire in 1998 in time for the launch of a digital National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
As part of the bill, form 4473 applications would be uploaded to the new database. In addition, the Brady Bill added a disqualifier to any individuals who were users or addicts to illegal narcotics.
How Might Hunter Biden Have Broken The Bill?
Under form 4473, purchasers are required to answer a number of questions truthfully. One of these, section 21 (g), asks: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?”
In response to this question, Hunter answered “no” when he purchased the handgun in 2018. This is despite court papers now revealing that he was a drug addict during this time, a habit he was unable to shake until the following May. Moreover, the form clearly states that such a falsehood is a felony.
Something Is Terribly Wrong With Former President Trump
For President Biden, he now faces scrutiny over why his son should be exempt from a law he championed, particularly as head of an administration which has repeatedly called for further gun control over the past three years.
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist based in Canada. He has written for the Western Standard, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo, and has covered notable events including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
