Senator Dianne Feinstein, sponsor of a bill to amend the 1994-2004 "assault weapons" ban, spoke about the so-called benefit of doing so. However, she conveniently left out the report from the Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice, which clearly shows that ban did nothing for crime reduction.
Perhaps that is because banning guns from law abiding citizens means does nothing to stop criminals from both possessing those guns and also committing crimes with them.
The bill bans 205 different guns by name and "high capacity" magazines, which translates into magazines that hold more than 11 rounds. It also bands bump stocks, which are already banned.
The "assault weapons" ban also requires a universal background check for future transfer of the firearms that are included in the ban.
Feinstein's press release states,“For the first time in more than five years, Congress today took action on a federal assault weapons ban. I applaud the House Judiciary Committee for holding an important hearing on protecting Americans from the deadly scourge of military-style assault weapons. The testimony clearly illustrated that an assault weapons ban works and would save lives."
WRONG. There isn't a single study proving that banning weapons would make our country safer.
“Compared with the decade before the 1994 ban took effect, the 10 years the ban was active saw a 37 percent decline in gun massacres." She continued, "Then, the decade after the ban expired, gun massacres shot back up by a stunning 183 percent. There’s no debating the fact that while the ban was in effect gun massacres were down, and after it expired they rose.
“Today’s testimony went even further, showing that the updated federal assault weapons ban we’ve introduced would be even more effective than the original version. The updated assault weapons ban clearly lays out what would qualify as an assault weapon in order to prevent the gun industry from sidestepping the law as they did 20 years ago," she said.
“We cannot wait any longer." Feinstein concluded, "Republicans must stop blocking commonsense gun legislation. The time to act is now. The longer we wait, the more lives will be lost.”
Like the 1994-2004 ban, Feinstein’s bill defines “assault weapons” based on cosmetic features. Therefore, the legislation bans commonly owned semiautomatic rifles that take detachable magazines and “[have] one or more military characteristics including a pistol grip, a forward grip, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel or a folding or telescoping stock.”
Make no mistake about it, the Democrats are coming for our guns. However, that doesn't mean we will be giving them up.
Here is a clip of Diane Feinstein speaking in 2013, in which she lays out her plan to "dry up the supply of these weapons over time." This has been the plan all long.