An "Assault Weapons" Primer

Though the video is over twenty years old, the subject is eerily familiar. Decades later, many among us still think that the best way to prevent psychopaths from killing children is to treat all gun owners as potential psychopaths. Didn't work then, didn't work in CT, won't work anywhere else.  

In the wake of the Stockton Schoolyard Shooting of 1989, a police firearms instructor in CA explains the difficulties in defining "assault weapons" and demonstrates how a nondescript hunting rifle can become an "assault weapon" with the addition of a few cosmetic features... with no difference in lethality.  




For those who would disagree with the assertion that gun owners would be treated as potential psychopaths under proposed legislation, please see the below highlights of Senator Feinstein's new bill... straight off her website.  

Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:

• Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
• 120 specifically-named firearms
• Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one military characteristic
• Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds
• Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
• Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test
• Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test
• Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans
• Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds. 
• Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
• Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment
• Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes and
• Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons
• Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
• Background check of owner and any transferee;
• Type and serial number of the firearm;
• Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
• Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
• Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration