In remarks at a Feb. 3 gun violence prevention task force meeting, President Joe Biden repeated claims about gun rights and gun manufacturing that fact-checkers have previously found to be false.

• Biden said when the Second Amendment passed, “you couldn’t buy a cannon … so no reason why you should be able to buy certain assault weapons” now. But no federal or state laws barred possession of cannons at the time, experts have said. Individuals actually could get special waivers to use privately owned ships carrying cannons during wartime.
• He also said of gun manufacturers, “They’re the only industry in America that is exempted from being able to be sued by the public.” Federal law shields gun makers from some civil lawsuits, but not all. Other industries have certain legal protections, too.

The president made those claims during the meeting in New York City with federal, state and local officials. He spoke about new actions the Justice Department plans to take as part of a multipart plan to combat and reduce gun crime across the country.

Claim About Cannons

To support his argument that the Second Amendment has always allowed for regulating the kinds of firearms and weapons that individuals can possess, Biden offered a historical example about cannons that is not accurate.

“When the amendment was passed, it didn’t say anybody can own a gun and any kind of gun and any kind of weapon,” the president said about the Second Amendment, which was adopted as part of the Bill of...

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