The Democrats want to put a 1000% tax on them.
Beyer’s definition of an “assault weapon” closely mirrors a measure that Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island is pushing. That bill would ban weapons with at least one military characteristic like a pistol grip or a forward grip.
This is stupid. Doesn’t this just create an after market for those items?
There already is an extensive aftermarket for gun accessories. The modifications aren’t “military” but rather make shooting guns safer and easier. Hand stops prevent your support hand from slipping and touching something really hot or even crossing the exit of the barrel.
They just want Jim Crow for gun owners. They want shooting to be more dangerous for people who exercise that right.
Much of the problem may be that most people, including our elected supergeniuses have no idea what they’re talking about. They’re keying on the word “assault” like it has some special meaning. When I was a kid, thanks to some TV shows, the word “submachinegun” was regarded as especially deadly (the word itself, not the weapon) and I’d guess not one person in a hundred knew it was a marketing term. Submachinegun was imbued with magic, so it didn’t matter that it meant an automatic carbine firing pistol ammunition. I guess a little later, “Uzi” inherited that magic. By some definitions, a small frame double-action revolver is an “assault” weapon, but a .50 caliber bolt-action sniper rifle is not.
Used to be, listening to the media, I asked, “How dumb do they think we are?” After a while, that changed to, “So… how dumb are we?” Now, I ask, “Really? That dumb?! Huh!”
What they’re doing is demonstrating how dumb they are.
“According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, “assault rifles” are “short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between a submachine gun and rifle cartridges.” All assault rifles are capable of automatic fire. Examples include the U.S. Army M-16, the Soviet AK-47, and the German Sturmgewehr. No guns that are dubbed “assault weapons” are assault rifles—but some of them do look similar, because the small parts that make a gun automatic are internal and not visible.”
As near as I can tell, a lot of this idiocy pertains solely to the styling, to the point where you even see “assault style” weapons. Sort of like “whore style” clothing, I suppose.
One of my relatives once called me up in a panic to say he’d found a machine gun in his basement. After getting a description, I called a close-by relative, who’d been in the Army a few years back, to go over and check. He about choked to death laughing when he found an “assault style” air rifle. You could even hear the BBs jingle when you shook it.
With all the guns already in circulation, wouldn’t it be easier to just ban the name? So you make the term ‘AR-15’ illegal. It has to be renamed to the CandyPuffyPopper and the barrel has to wear a tutu. Also just ban the word ‘assault’ from any gun. Instead it has to be renamed the ‘ill-tempered owner device’. Or ‘small organ gun’.
To give it some cachet you can just use the German description: Verweichlichte Schusswaffe!
Oh and only allowed to make new ones in pink.
Pink cute and cuddly: Hello Kitty AR-15 Black Rifle mod…
How much? Is it back-ordered?
Can you add a suppressor to switch the bang sound to a smooch?
What about all those “assault rifles” that identify as muzzle-loaders and flintlock pistols?
Raoul Ortega: What about all those “assault rifles” that identify as muzzle-loaders and flintlock pistols?
Greta Gun-Grabber: “That’s NOT funny!”
If this passes it might lead to the M-1 Garand going back into mass production. Hooah!
Some are pushing for a ban on all semiautomatic rifles, which would include the M-1.
Do any of them remember how JFK was shot? Probably not.
Curtain rods wasn’t it?
The shooter wore a MAGA hat?
I’d like to invest in a mutal fund that builds a portfolio of firearm accessory manufacturers specializing in:
19 round magazines
horizontally/perpendicularly mounted “pistol” grips
long barrels and shoulder stocks for existing pistols
“kits” for everything needed except a lower receiver
lead-shot-filled “paint ball” pellets.
high caliber Girandoni-style air guns…
From you link:
“Beyer’s definition of an “assault weapon” closely mirrors a measure that Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island is pushing. That bill would ban weapons with at least one military characteristic like a pistol grip or a forward grip.”
In other words they can define “assault weapon” any way they please not necessarily limited to an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle (or any rifle). They could simply write the law in such a way that regulators after the law is passed get to decide what they consider an assault weapon to be. How about a Glock pistol that can shoot 15 rounds per magazine (standard)? Or any pistol that can be fitted with a non-standard magazine that can shoot more than that? In other words they could ban anything they pretty much want to ban; driving domestic gun sales into the toilet with the end game of bankrupting the firearms industry. At least as far as sales to private citizenry are concerned, a near total gun ban on most modern semi-automatic weapons pistols as well as rifles all without touching the 2nd Amendment.
To borrow a phrase:
Let me see if I understand:
a) Most of the world operates on a self-preserving mentality where announcements of shortages lead to runs on goods (see: toilet paper, baby formula, banks…)
b) The United States is not an exception to (a)
c) Many gun owners in the United States understand or agree that the Second Amendment was written to help ensure that the citizenry could not be unduly oppressed by an armed government
Given all of the above, the answer to stopping gun sales is to announce OUT LOUD that you plan to some day soon put a hefty price hike on guns in the United States, but not for the military, and just not yet?
Ask Obama how that worked out for him…
But how many more guns can we buy?
A punitive tax that exceeds whatever the law considers reasonable would likely be viewed akin to a poll tax. Haven’t there been some anti-gun laws tossed by the courts recently for this reason?
“Haven’t there been some anti-gun laws tossed by the courts recently for this reason?”
Yes; though I can’t think of them off hand. Hopefully the currently conservative SCOTUS would view a 1000% (eleven fold) increase in the cost of a very popular semi-automatic rifle as an attempt to ban a whole class of firearms in all but name.
Assuming for the sake of argument that SCOTUS didn’t strike it down and it became law the Republicans would likely repeal it after November election. Republicans wouldn’t need 60 votes to repeal if dems pass by “reconciliation”; Republicans would repeal the same way. However Biden (or Harris if Biden is removed/resigned) would promptly veto, and the republicans wouldn’t have enough votes to override said veto. So it would be law at least until 2024 when someone (hopefully Trump) becomes next president.
The three stages of Leftism:
1. The free market.
2. The aftermarket.
3. The black market.