Politicians and experts spoke last week about whether President Biden would pardon his son Hunter for lying on federal gun purchase forms, failing to pay taxes and other crimes he may have committed over the past decade. I spent time commenting. Much of the controversy stems from President Biden's repeated vows never to pardon his son.
Some see the pardon timeline starting in 2019, when Hunter Biden joins the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. This has led to speculation that President Biden is trying to block an investigation into links between his son's business dealings and his Ukraine policy.
Less discussed is the fact that Hunter Biden may be the only American president Biden has pardoned for violating unconstitutional federal gun and drug laws.
Hunter Biden was convicted of lying on federal Form 4473. This is the form that Americans must fill out to obtain federal “permission” to purchase firearms. Specifically, Hunter Biden falsely answered the question, “Are you an illegal user or addict of marijuana, or sedatives, stimulants, narcotics, or other controlled substances?”
The Second Amendment prohibits the federal government from restricting Americans' ability to exercise their natural right to own firearms. Moreover, the federal drug laws themselves are unconstitutional.
The Constitution only provides for three federal crimes: treason, piracy, and forgery. All other crimes are under state and local jurisdiction. Therefore, the mandatory use of this form is a constitutional violation of the rights of Hunter Biden and all other Americans who are subject to this form when trying to obtain guns.
Form 4473 tells Americans that “regardless of whether marijuana has been legalized or decriminalized for medical or recreational purposes in your state, the use or possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law. ”, he warns. Therefore, someone could be prevented from exercising their Second Amendment rights for activities that are perfectly legal in that state. This turns federalism upside down.
Hunter Biden was also convicted of tax evasion and fraudulent tax returns and received a pardon. For people who value freedom, it's hard to get angry at people who violate tax laws because income taxes are a form of government stealing people's hard-earned income.
The outrage over Hunter Biden's pardon is hypocrisy on the part of President Biden. When he served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1990s, then-Sen. played an important role. Sen. Biden was also a major drug fighter who led the fight to pass the 1994 crime bill, defending minimum mandatory minimum obligations and other civil liberties violations in the name of the war on drugs. . President Biden also supported adding more IRS agents to extract more money from taxpayers.
Then-Senator Biden wrote most of the Patriot Act. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Biden also led the effort to pass an unconstitutional (and disastrous) Authorization for the Use of Military Force against Iraq.
President Biden should spend his final month in office pardoning more Americans for unconstitutional drug and gun violations. This would be a small act of redemption for a career spent in politics advocating policies that destroy peace, prosperity, and freedom.
Ron Paul is a former U.S. Congressman from Texas. This article originally appeared on the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity and is reprinted here with permission.
