Feinstein will introduce assault weapons ban in Senate

[krispos42]

112. I understand that...

...she re-introduces what is the basically the same thing every session; the previous AWB, only with no sunset clause.

And I believe that included in the AWB proposal is a magazine-capacity limit of 10 rounds.

We could try that again, but I doubt it will do anything except irritate people. Remember, there are probably over a billion "pre-ban" magazines in the country for the various guns that use them, and properly maintained they will last for decades or centuries.

And many states still have a magazine-capacity limit. California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, etc.

And while we're focusing on the slaughter in Newtown, we're forgetting that 44 people a day are murdered in America, about 30 or so of them with guns. And most of those killed with guns were were handguns, with only a handful of shots fired, and by somebody they are familiar with.

The problem with biometric guns is that they are unproven, and will of course add considerably to the cost of a gun. I don't see the police rushing to embrace the technology, for example, and they carry guns every day. I say, let the fuzz be the testbed for such technologies. If it works, it will trickle down into civilian firearm sales. At that point, maybe we can consider making it law, when it's proven, common, and cheap.

I'm not against it, but it has not been developed and I would not trust it if my life depended on it.


As to bullet serial numbers, that's got a host of problems. One is the sheer logistics of keeping track of bullets with numbers stamped on them. Remember, every bullet in a box of ammo has to have the same number, and it has to match the printed number on the box. Bullets are mass-produced; it would like trying to put a serial number on every chicken nugget McDonald's sells.

Because the bullet is crimped in the brass case, the buyer can't verify that number on the box is what's really on the bullet. AND, finally, it would require ammunition registration... which would not help much with stolen guns and stolen ammunition.



What we're really looking at is people frantically looking for some way to prevent the un-preventable, in this case a low-probability but high-impact mass murder.

People are saying "take away all guns!", which of course will not work.

"Take away assault weapons", which simply means people will buy "almost-assault weapons", or "sporting weapons", and those will instead be used.

"Ban high-capacity magazines", which doesn't affect used magazines, and even with limited-capacity magazines great slaughter can be committed in a short time due to reloading.



I've got solutions to lower the overall crime rate. I don't have any solutions to lone-wolf, unplanned mass shootings.