Senator Dianne Feinstein introduces gun ban bill in Senate
by Pinedale Online!
January 26, 2013
On Thursday, January 24th, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (Democrat-California) introduced a bill called the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. The bill "bans dangerous military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of holding more than 10 rounds."
Feinstein said, "The bill introduced today is the product of more than a year of work, with input from across the country," Feinstein said. "Getting this bill signed into law will be an uphill battle, and I recognize that—but it’s a battle worth waging. We must balance the desire of a few to own military-style assaults weapons with the growing threat to lives across America. If 20 dead children in Newtown wasn’t a wakeup call that these weapons of war don’t belong on our streets, I don’t know what is."
According to the bill proponents, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 has two principal goals:
• First, the bill prohibits the sale, manufacture, transfer and importation of 157 of the most commonly-owned military-style assault weapons. It also bans an additional group of assault weapons that can accept a detachable ammunition magazine and have one or more military characteristics.
• Second, the bill bans large-capacity magazines and other ammunition feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. These devices allow shooters to fire numerous rounds in rapid succession without having to stop and reload.
What the bill does:
The legislation bans the sale, transfer, manufacturing and importation of:
• All semiautomatic rifles that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one military feature: pistol grip; forward grip; folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; barrel shroud; or threaded barrel.
• All semiautomatic pistols that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one military feature: threaded barrel; second pistol grip; barrel shroud; capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip; or semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm.
• All semiautomatic rifles and handguns that have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
• All semiautomatic shotguns that have a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; pistol grip; fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 5 rounds; ability to accept a detachable magazine; forward grip; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; or shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
• All ammunition feeding devices (magazines, strips, and drums) capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
• 157 specifically-named firearms (listed at the end of this page).
The legislation excludes the following weapons from the bill:
• Any weapon that is lawfully possessed at the date of the bill’s enactment;
• Any firearm manually operated by a bolt, pump, lever or slide action;
• Assault weapons used by military, law enforcement, and retired law enforcement; and
• Antique weapons.
The legislation protects hunting and sporting firearms:
• The bill excludes 2,258 legitimate hunting and sporting rifles and shotguns by specific make and model.
The legislation strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and state bans by:
• Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test.
o The bill also makes the ban harder to evade by eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test.
• Banning dangerous aftermarket modifications and workarounds.
o Bump or slide fire stocks, which are modified stocks that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire at rates similar to fully automatic machine guns.
o So-called "bullet buttons" that allow the rapid replacement of ammunition magazines, frequently used as a workaround to prohibitions on detachable magazines.
o Thumbhole stocks, a type of stock that was created as a workaround to avoid prohibitions on pistol grips.
• Adding a ban on the importation of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.
• Eliminating the 10-year sunset that allowed the original federal ban to expire.
The legislation addresses the millions of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines currently in existence by:
• Requiring a background check on all sales or transfers of a grandfathered assault weapon.
o This background check can be run through the FBI or, if a state chooses, initiated with a state agency, as with the existing background check system.
• Prohibiting the sale or transfer of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices lawfully possessed on the date of enactment of the bill.
• Allowing states and localities to use federal Byrne JAG grant funds to conduct a voluntary buy-back program for grandfathered assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices.
• Imposing a safe storage requirement for grandfathered firearms, to keep them away from prohibited persons.
• Requiring that assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices manufactured after the date of the bill’s enactment be engraved with the serial number and date of manufacture of the weapon
Click here for:
Summary of the bill
Endorsement list
Text of bill (122 page PDF)
Dianne Feinstein website, assault weapons ban bill More information
|
