Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Jason Crow (D-CO) are pushing their House colleagues to pass a ban on “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines.
Sherrill and Crow used a USA Today op-ed to call for the ban, claiming “mass shootings are occurring at an alarming rate and will continue unless we stop the easy access to weapons of war.”
They did not note that one of the deadliest mass shootings of 2019–the May 31, Virginia Beach shooting–was carried out with handguns. Nor did they note that one of the all-time most heinous shootings, the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech attack, was carried out with handguns. A total of 44 people were killed in these two attacks alone, all by handguns.
Instead, Sherrill and Crow claim the 1994-2004 “assault weapons” ban actually prohibited “the purchase of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” which it did not. It was totally legal to manufacture and sell “assault weapons” while the ban was in place. The only catch was that the rifles could not be outfitted with a flash hider, collapsible stock, thumbhole stock, heat shield, or other such cosmetic feature.
Moreover, it was legal to buy all the “high capacity” magazines one could afford. The ban did not prevent the sale of such magazines, only the manufacture.
Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) already said an “assault weapons” ban will be “front and center” once the Senate reconvenes.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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