Hunter Biden plans to appeal his federal gun charges conviction by citing the 2nd amendment, a move that comes as his father advocates for gun control.
The president’s only surviving son is expected to base his appeal on a 2022 Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights, The New York Times reports, a decision that President Joe Biden previously said “contradicts both common sense and the Constitution.”
Meanwhile, just hours after his son’s conviction, Biden also spoke at an Everytown for Gun Safety event, calling for increased gun control and praising his administration’s own work to promote gun control.
“It’s the most significant gun legislation in nearly 30 years, and we passed it only because you got out and worked like hell to get it done,” Biden said on Tuesday, referencing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
The law, passed in 2022, helps states keep guns out of the hands of those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. It also expanded federal background checks, enabling sellers to check state and local juvenile and mental health records of customers 20 years old and younger.
“I may have had the idea, but you got it made, you made it happen,” Biden said of the 2022 law. “It was designed to reduce gun violence and save lives, and I’m so proud of the tremendous progress we’ve made since then.”
On Tuesday, 12 Delaware jurors unanimously convicted Hunter on three felony gun charges, marking the first time a sitting president’s child has been found guilty of a crime.
Special counsel David Weiss brought three gun-related charges against him last September, claiming the president’s son unlawfully purchased a firearm by lying on a federal gun form about his drug use.
Hunter will also go on trial in September in California for nine tax-related criminal charges, three of which are felony counts.
“As I said last week, I am the president, but I am also a dad,” the president said in a statement following his son’s conviction. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today.”
Prosecutors say that the 54-year-old made millions from 2016 to 2020 and spent it on his lavish lifestyle while skipping out on more than $1.4 million in taxes. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
