Word comes from NBC News that following the shootings in Las Vegas and Texas the Senate Democrats have once more introduced a new bill designed to ban “assault weapons” within the United States.
The original Assault Weapons Ban was enacted in 1994, championed by Dianne Feinstein in the wake of the Luby’s mass shooting that left 23 people dead. The intent was to limit the ability for attackers to inflict mass casualties by keeping “weapons of war” off the streets and limiting the capacity of magazines. It expired in 2004 when it was not renewed under the Bush administration.
According to a 2013 Obama Administration Department of Justice memo which analyzed the effectiveness of the law, it found that the Assault Weapons Ban had no impact on reducing crime or the murder rate in the United States, and that implementing the same legislation again would have little to no effect on the safety of American citizens for decades to come. This is further supported by a 2013 National Academy study which came to the same conclusions.
Despite this evidence (as well as opposition from the majority of American voters) the Democrats and specifically Dianne Feinstein have continued to re-introduce the bill following every mass shooting event. The latest incarnation was following the Sandy Hook shooting, where her bill received a public hearing but failed to make it out of committee even with a Democrat controlled Senate and White House.
The full text of the latest proposal has yet to be released, but odds are that it is another copy-and-paste from the original Assault Weapons Ban from 1994. For more information on why an Assault Weapons Ban is a terrible idea see this article.