Friday, the U.S. House passed its bill to ban the sale of what it calls “assault weapons.” There is a lot of confusion among many news agencies about what constitutes an “assault weapon,” but the bill essentially would outlaw the sale of modern sporting rifles such as the AR-15 and the AK-47. It would also apply to a great many other semi-automatic rifle and pistol platforms.
The language of the bill includes the phrase, “it shall be unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer or possess … a semiautomatic assault weapon,” and the same language is repeated in reference to detachable magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.
I’m not entirely sure what they mean by “possess,” but from the looks of it, this bill would make owning an AR-15 or a 30-round magazine illegal. And in my humble opinion, that’s ridiculous.
The supporters of the bill argue that enacting this bill would reduce the likelihood of mass shootings like those we’ve experienced in the last several years. But they’re absolutely wrong. All it’ll do is cause difficulties for millions of law-abiding gun owners across the country. The criminals aren’t going to care about these laws, and in fact, many legitimate gun owners will likely break the law and sell their sporting rifles, thereby putting more of these guns in reach of people who have no business owning them. It’s a recipe for disaster.
And it’s not going to reduce any violent crimes. After all, there are already laws against shooting people. But the criminals who do it don’t care about that law. What makes these lawmakers think they’ll abide by this one?
The good news is it’s expected to get tanked in the Senate. Keep an eye on it, though – and let Washington know where you stand on this issue.