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| Joe Biden: buy a shotgun, not an assault rifle, to protect your home | Joe Biden: buy a shotgun, not an assault rifle, to protect your home |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Joe Biden, the US vice-president, has said Americans should buy a shotgun rather than an assault rifle if they want to protect their homes. | Joe Biden, the US vice-president, has said Americans should buy a shotgun rather than an assault rifle if they want to protect their homes. |
| Biden, who is spearheading a push for President Barack Obama's gun control proposals, made the remark during a question-and-answer session on Facebook on Tuesday. | Biden, who is spearheading a push for President Barack Obama's gun control proposals, made the remark during a question-and-answer session on Facebook on Tuesday. |
| The vice-president has not one but two shotguns that he says he keeps in a locked cabinet at his house in his home state of Delaware, and he has given his wife, Jill, explicit instructions on how to deal with any would-be intruder. | The vice-president has not one but two shotguns that he says he keeps in a locked cabinet at his house in his home state of Delaware, and he has given his wife, Jill, explicit instructions on how to deal with any would-be intruder. |
| "We live in an area that's wooded and secluded," Biden said. "I said 'Jill, if there's ever a problem just walk out on the balcony here ... put that double-barrelled shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house.' | "We live in an area that's wooded and secluded," Biden said. "I said 'Jill, if there's ever a problem just walk out on the balcony here ... put that double-barrelled shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house.' |
| "I promise you whoever's coming in is not gonna," Biden said. "You don't need an AR-15 [assault rifle]. It's harder to aim. It's harder to use and in fact you don't need 30 rounds to protect yourself. | |
| "Buy a shotgun. Buy a shotgun," he said. | |
| The vice-president, who is known for sometimes telling long, personal stories in his public appearances, is pushing Obama's plan for curbing gun violence following the December school shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. | The vice-president, who is known for sometimes telling long, personal stories in his public appearances, is pushing Obama's plan for curbing gun violence following the December school shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. |
| But some of the proposals, including a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips, have run into stiff opposition from the influential US gun lobby and their advocates on Capitol Hill. | But some of the proposals, including a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips, have run into stiff opposition from the influential US gun lobby and their advocates on Capitol Hill. |
| Biden has expressed a predilection for shotguns before. In January, during a similar chat session on Google+, he said that in an apocalyptic scenario like an earthquake that led to mass disturbances, "if you want to keep people alive ... buy some shotgun shells". | Biden has expressed a predilection for shotguns before. In January, during a similar chat session on Google+, he said that in an apocalyptic scenario like an earthquake that led to mass disturbances, "if you want to keep people alive ... buy some shotgun shells". |