Joe Biden: “Let me conclude, Mr. President, because again, it is a little bit like when we first raised the issue of taggants. There…”

“Let me conclude, Mr. President, because again, it is a little bit like when we first raised the issue of taggants. There was initially--because a lot of people did not understand it--a lot of resistance. Yesterday, we overwhelmingly passed it because we talked about it. I am sincerely hopeful that as the staff of Senators who were otherwise occupied now in committee hearings and may not be able to hear this themselves will understand that this does not have to do with guns. It has to do with equity. A person convicted, as I indicated earlier, of impersonating a Federal employee can get up to a 3-year sentence, while a person convicted under the National Firearms Act can receive up to 10 years in prison. One has to wonder why a statute of limitations is shorter for the great offense and longer for the shorter offense. It does not seem to make sense. Again, although I cannot and do not speak for the NRA, it seems to me on its face this is totally consistent with the philosophy that the NRA has adopted relative to gun offenses. That is, when the law is violated relating to guns and/or explosives, that person should be punished severely. One of the things that we all know, in tracking these cases, is the police need time. It is totally consistent with the way we have dealt with other crimes and totally consistent with the philosophy on the left and the right, it seems to me, to just merely standardize the statute of limitations for these very serious offenses.”