U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- It is no secret that Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I) is no fan of guns. After the Las Vegas shooting, he introduced a bill to ban bump stocks. With another tragedy, he looks to gain political capital by proposing more overreaching gun bills that are doomed to fail in Congress. This tactic is what is known as the “political circus.”
The new bill, which is co-sponsored by 150 other Democrats, would introduce what Cicilline calls “sensible legislation.” He uses such buzz words as “weapons of war” and “assault weapons.” Looking into the bill it is anything, but “sensible.”
“Assault weapons were made for one purpose,” a statement released by Cicilline said. “They are designed to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time. They do not belong in our communities.”
The Assault Weapons Ban of 2018 (H.R.5087) does a lot more than just ban the modern sporting rifle. It would prohibit most firearms used today. Reading through the draconian bill harkens back to the gun confiscations of Nazi Germany, the USSR, and China.
The bill would ban all AR15, AKMs, and all other modern sporting rifles. The legislation mentions over 200 brands of firearms by name which would effectively put these companies out of business. I reached out to some of these companies for comment, but I have not gotten a response at the time of this writing.
According to the proposed law, it would ban any pistol that is capable of using a magazine that holds more than ten rounds. The key to this is that the gun just as to be capable of accepting a magazine that holds more than ten rounds. This stipulation means the bill would ban every semiautomatic pistol as an assault weapon.
Most semiautomatic shotguns would also be banned. The bill would ban any semiautomatic shotgun that is capable of holding more than five shells. If the shotgun has a detachable magazine, it would also be prohibited. If it has a folding, telescoping, or detachable
stock, it would be considered an assault weapon. A pistol grip or forward grip would also cause it to fall into the banned category.
One strange thing in the bill is that it bans any shotgun with a rocket launcher attached. I can’t find one case where someone attached a rocket launcher to a shotgun.
I was also under the impression that rocket launchers were already illegal. I will have to look into the laws some more before next Christmas.
One interesting about this bill is that it bans any weapon that has an automatic version. Cicilline doesn’t give any reason why this would make a semiautomatic gun any more dangerous. The bill seems to use buzz words without much research.
When talking to Jonathan T. Gilliam on the left’s attack on the Second Amendment, he said, “You’ll have a pellet gun, and that will be all you would be allowed to have. Even that they would probably go after.”
It looks like Gilliam might be right. The bill would label any pellet fired from a pellet gun with more than 4oz of air “a rocket.” It would further ban any air gun with more than 4oz of air as an assault weapon. This bill goes further than any other anti-gun bill ever proposed.
The bill would grandfather any guns that are in private hands but would require an FFL transfer of the now prohibited firearm from one person to another. There would be a 90 day grace period before this provision kicks into effect. The FFL transfer would help the government track the firearms listed.
The bill defines a large capacity magazine as any “feeding device” that can hold more than ten rounds. It would only allow for the manufacture and sale of these magazines to law enforcement and other government agencies. The magazines would have to be serialized and registered in the same manner as firearms.
This bill has no chance of passing. It will most likely die in committee. It seems like Rep. Cicilline, and the other Democrats are trying to use the Florida shooting to score political points with their base. This bill will be the first of many in the coming days.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on the history of the patriot movement and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss or at www.crumpy.com.