I wrote about Biden and the 1994 crime bill today:

The legislation was a mixed bag — including an ineffectual assault-weapons ban and billions for supposed prevention — representing the blunderbuss approach typical of sweeping bipartisan federal legislation. But the bill was, overall, a politically necessary response to a devastating decades long crime wave. Rather than the foundational act of the American penal state, it is best viewed as part of a much larger, long-running effort to strengthen the criminal-justice system that helped drive down crime.