Democrats introduce ban on semi-automatic firearms
150 Democrats on the day he introduces the thing? In an election year? Ok, this is serious.
And the legislation is not as bad as the first Assault Weapons Ban... it's worse. More below the fold, including links to the full legislation, the author's press release, and my hot-take analysis of what's banned. Short version? Ban all the things.
Press release here. Full legislation here. The previous "ban" prohibited only the manufacture, not the transfer, meaning pre-ban weapons and magazines could be (and were) frequently sold, often for inflated prices. The previous version required 3 "military features" (never mind that they were silly features); this requires only one.
Worst of all, the previous version had an expiration date. That's how we got rid of it. Congress was never able to muster the votes to repeal it; instead it expired in 2004 after studies demonstrated it was completely ineffective. This one does not expire.
The legislation has nothing to do with military (fully-automatic) firearms, only with semi-automatic rifles, handguns, and shotguns like the ones in your closet.
The list of "evil rifle features", of which any single feature is enough to ban:
There are a lot of firearms covered by that ban. The "pistol grip" and "forward grip" alone will cover a lot of sporting and hunting firearms. Those terms are defined later; "forward grip" is a pistol grip forward of the trigger, and a "pistol grip" is "a grip, thumbhole stock, or any other characteristic that can function as a grip". That definition is useless because you can hold a firearm by just about any "characteristic" except, possibly, the hot barrel which would burn your hand because the barrel shroud designed to keep you from burning yourself accidentally is also banned.
If your AR wasn't already banned by the pistol grip, your adjustable stock would do it, and the barrel shroud would do it again, even though the left famously thinks the barrel shroud is "the shoulder thing that goes up".
At least they removed they bayonet lug. I guess they noticed the lack of drive-by bayonetings. Of course, I can't remember the last drive-by grenade launching either. And the amusing part is, their definition of rocket launcher sets a minimum allowed amount of propellant rather than a maximum allowed amount. Oops.
It bans bump stocks. It also bans anything that alters the rate of fire of your firearm, including using a different spring or recoil system. Even if you just had a different spring lying around your house.
Provision v will ban most glocks, as there are full-auto versions available to police, I think.
I think that covers all semiauto shotguns, since 6 rounds and up is pretty common even in fixed magazine shotguns. And then they name a bunch of evil weapons.
Better check the parts you have in inventory just lying around. Buy an adjustable stock and never got around to adding it? Better get rid of it -- and document that you did.
A magazine is a box with a spring in it. Better clean house; no loose springs.
There is some provision for grandfathering, but I haven't found out for sure what is grandfathered. Remember that the legislation prohibits both manufacture and transfer, so you might be able to keep your existing "assault weapon", but not transfer it to anyone. That would make for a slow-motion ban as gun owners die.
There's a safe storage requirement for your grandfathered assault weapons if you live with a prohibited person ... which may well include your kids while they are minors.
They want markings on magazines and new firearms with the date of manufacture, presumably to make enforcement easier. They want to be able to seize magazines in the same way they can seize firearms. (When they can do this references other legislation, so it's not immediately clear what effect that has). They require background checks for transfers of grandfathered guns.
They've fixed some of the obvious flaws with previous attempts at background check legislation.
And they fund "buybacks".
This entry was published Tue Feb 27 01:38:23 CST 2018 by TriggerFinger
and last updated 2018-02-27 01:33:13.0.
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