Earlier this month, during the National Safer Communities Summit, President Joe Biden once again spread misinformation about guns in the country. He claimed that people in Philadelphia sold AR-15s out of trucks that “pulled up to the curb.”
I live in Philadelphia and spent significantly more time there than Biden. He doesn’t know Philadelphia better than I do. Bad things happen in Philadelphia, and I have seen plenty of them, but not once have I ever seen a truck pull up selling AR-15s.
“And in most cities — down in Philadelphia and New York, areas I know well — like up here — you’d see a truck pull up, pull to the curb, and selling weapons — selling guns, selling AR-15. Selling weapons,” Biden said.
I’ve forgotten more about Philadelphia than Biden has ever known. I don’t say this to sound arrogant but merely to prove a point about Biden’s lack of credibility on this issue.
I’ve seen drug deals, and I’ve seen fights. At my job, I’ve witnessed criminals burst into our location, steal thousands of dollars of merchandise, and walk out. I have had to fight off multiple attackers while being physically assaulted and called anti-white racist slurs. I even witnessed a drive-by shooting just a few weeks ago, but I have never seen a truck pull up selling AR-15s.
My father was a Philadelphia police officer, as was my grandfather before him. So were my uncle and my godfather. My friend worked in the city’s sheriff’s department. My high school classmate works as a cop in the city’s suburbs. None of them have ever seen a truck pull up and sell AR-15s. Neither has my mother, siblings, aunt, uncle, cousins, neighbors, or anyone in my immediate family.
I was born and raised in the rough and tough neighborhoods of South Philadelphia. I went to high school in one of the worst crime-ridden sections of the city in North Philadelphia. I went to college in West Philadelphia — another highly violent crime area. I relocated to the city’s suburbs in an upper-middle-class area where numerous hunting enthusiasts lived. I worked in various parts of the city and surrounding suburbs. I’ve witnessed plenty of gun violence and heard gunshots many times. Not once have I ever seen a truck pull up selling AR-15s.
I asked numerous Philadelphians last week, in an unscientific survey, if they had ever witnessed an AR-15 being sold out of a truck. Not one person claimed they did. Additionally, I told Biden’s quote to a former Philadelphia police officer to ask their opinion. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the former police officer said such a thing was not possible and explained what Biden said was not true, nor did it make sense.
“No, I have not seen that [selling AR-15s out of a truck], and it’s always been against the law to sell a gun without a license,” the former Philadelphia police officer said. “If I were selling my gun, we would have to go to a gun shop for it to be legal.”
The President of the United States did not tell the truth. He purposely spread misinformation to manipulate people through fear and deception to advance his political agenda. He tried to claim a familiarity with the city to appear credible on a completely bogus claim.
Philadelphia has violent crime and illegal gun problems. Many innocent people are getting killed as a result. However, imaginary trucks pulling up to imaginary curbs and selling imaginary AR-15s is not what has caused this carnage and bloodshed. Philadelphians know this, and ultimately, so does Biden.
* Article From: The Washington Examiner