We’ve been hearing about Senator Dianne Feinstein’s upcoming Assault Weapons Ban proposal for weeks. Even prior to the events of Friday, she had been meeting quietly with ATF officials to try and come up with a more restrictive version of the Clinton era AWB that expired in 2004. And apparently she has decided to use the emotional wake of this tradgedy to push her political agenda through. She announced on Meet the Press that she will be introducing simultaneous AWB bills in the House and Senate when the new Congress convenes. Here’s what I expect . . .
Here’s the statement she made on meet the Press:
“It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession, not retroactively, but prospectively,” and ban the sale of clips of more than ten bullets, Feinstein said. “The purpose of this bill is to get… weapons of war off the streets.”
According to David Codrea’s sources, this version of the AWB is going to be a LOT worse than anything currently in place in the United States. We’ve been hearing that the following would be tacked on, above and beyond the traditional AWB:
- No pistol grips
- No high capacity magazines
- NO GRANDFATHERING
- No sale if already in possession — destruction or alteration only
The old version allowed guns already purchased with the features to remain unchanged, but required new guns to be altered to meet the requirements. Apparently this upcoming version will be having none of that, with ALL civilian owned AR-15 and WASR-10 style firearms immediately illegal upon passage.
Also included is a ban on high capacity magazines. According to the Senator:
“Who needs these military-style assault weapons? Who needs an ammunition feeding device capable of holding 100 rounds?” Feinstein wrote on her campaign website. “These weapons are not for hunting deer — they’re for hunting people.”
Given the events of the past week, I fully expect the Senate to vote and approve their version. And the President seems ready to sign it into law. The only thing keeping this law from passing is the majority Republicans hold in the House.
I’ve talked at length about how an Assault Weapons Ban is a dumb idea. Hopefully they can keep common sense alive and keep ridiculous laws from punishing the law abiding for the actions of criminals.