Banning certain magazines & clips & ammo AND a buy-back program

[Honeycombe8]

One of the problems with an assault weapon ban is that it doesn't get at semi-automatics AND at the assault weapons already bought and sold. Those guns will be here forever.

A poster here on DU a few days ago brought up the idea of banning those big magazines/clips. Since then, I've heard it mentioned on TV a few times. That seems like a great idea to address the semi-automatics and the assault weapons that are out in the public.

Also, I read somewhere that some country or city did a buy-back program, where it offered to buy guns from the public. It was pretty successful and got a lot of guns off the street.

Assault weapons being banned is a logical thing to do, and necessary. Those have no business being owned by non-military or law enforcement people. But these two other things seem like things that are equally, if not more, important.

Both of these things may not be fought as hard by the NRA-supporters, either. I heard a conservative NRA supporter on tv (I think it was Morning Joe) say that he thought the magazine restriction was at least one thing that made sense to him (he may also have supported the assault weapon ban....I didn't hear his whole interview). As he pointed out, you don't need 30 rounds to hunt.

[slackmaster]

1. Please explain the distinction between what you mean by "assault weapons" vs. "semi-automatics"

TIA

ETA - The reason I am asking this specific question is that under the federal AW ban that expired in 2004, AWs were a sub-set of semiautomatic firearms. From the structure of your post it appears that you view them as disjoint or intersecting sets.

[Honeycombe8]

2. I'm no expert. But as you point out....

some semi-automatics are not considered assault weapons by those in the know. For example, semi-automatics are used in hunting, whereas assault weapons are not.

Another poster here was telling me that the semi-automatic referenced in another post was not considered an assault weapon.

That is all I know. But the point of my post is that the two ideas I've heard/read discussed get at ALL kinds of guns, even those that are already out in the public domain.

[slackmaster]

5. The distinction is not as clear as you seem to believe, but all "AWs" were semiautomatic by law

By definition.

There are rifles that function exactly the same as what you might call an AW, such as an AR-15 variant or even an AK, that are configured for hunting. Typically they have barrels that are relatively long, they're equipped with a precision optical sight, and in accordance with state hunting laws would be used with a magazine of limited capacity, for example five rounds. They may be covered with a camouflage coating, or even fitted with a wooden stock.

I'm not sure how one could define "AWs" in a way that would not affect firearms that are designed and used for precision match shooting or hunting. The expired federal ban was a colossal failure in that regard, although it did have specific exemptions for the Ruger Mini-14 and other popular rifles. That made no sense whatsoever.

[backscatter712]

9. Since everyone defines the term differently, let me throw in my frame.

My question is how fast can the gun fire? Full-autos are already illegal, or at least heavily restricted to the point where most mere-mortals can't get them, because they can throw a hell of a lot of hot lead in the air in a short period of time.

Semi-auto is tamer by comparison, but as we've seen in Sandy Hook, Aurora, Virginia Tech, Tucson, Columbine... those weapons can still throw enough hot lead in the air to kill dozens of people in a few minutes. And that's especially true when the killer's got drums or high-capacity extended magazines for his weapons.

So you want my definition of where to draw The Line? How fast can the gun fire? I'd say if it's capable of firing more than 15-20 rounds in a minute, that's more firepower than a civilian needs. It's a rough metric, but one that IMHO correlates strongly with the deadliness of the weapon.

[slackmaster]

14. Every semiautomatic firearm shoots as fast as the operator can move the trigger

There is a little variability, but in general lock times are measured in milliseconds.

[winetourdriver]

3. assault weapon ban?

Yes, bring it back. I talked to one of my brothers who teaches h.s. back in the midwest, and he seems to be saying the same thing most are saying: bring back the assault weapons ban and a ban on very large clips. The people who wrote the second amendment were talking about muskets for gods sake, MUSKETS!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. Lets take the rest of our rights back to those times

1) I would be a slave
2) Only white male property owners could vote
3) The internet would run on hand set lead type

[JaneyVee]

10. Why would we take the rest of our rights back to those times?

The Constitution has been amended 27 times, not the 2nd Amendment.

[slackmaster]

6. If a very clever gunsmith in the 1780s had managed to craft a semiautomatic breech-loader...

...that used fixed ammunition, he would have been hailed as a genius and would have become a national hero.

[Honeycombe8]

7. Rachel is talking about the buy-back program right now. New Jersey program...

Also Oakland and San Francisco. Each gun returned in CA for $200. These programs were wildly successful.

The guns will be melted and turned into non-deadly things, like park benches.

The buy-back programs were funded by private groups.

Brooklyn NY is doing it today. More than 130 guns were turned in today.

[Lizzie Poppet]

11. That certainly seems to work for small, cheap handguns.

And let's be clear here: those are the forearms used in the vast majority of violent gun-related crime...not "assault weapons."

[Honeycombe8]

12. True. I love your avatar. Bride of Frankenstein? nt

[Lizzie Poppet]

13. Yep!

Was really tickled to see her available!