Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is pushing a ban on commonly owned semiautomatic rifles and “high capacity” magazines.
She announced the push via Twitter where she wrote: “Americans across the nation are asking Congress to reinstate the federal ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. If we’re going to put a stop to mass shootings and protect our children, we need to get these weapons of war off our streets.”
Feinstein wants to ban any “assault weapon” which “accepts a detachable magazine and has one or more military characteristics including a pistol grip, a forward grip, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel or a folding or telescoping stock.”
Her efforts to shoot down semiautomatic firearms based on cosmetic features are joined by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), as well as Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and numerous other Democrats.
Sen. Murphy commented on the proposed ban, saying, “Military-style assault rifles are the weapons of choice for mass murderers. There’s just no reason why these guns, which were designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible, are sold to the public. This past year, we’ve seen Americans rise up and demand Congress change our gun laws. Banning assault weapons would save lives, and I’m proud to join Senator Feinstein in introducing this bill.”
On May 30, 2018, Breitbart News reported a study from the Rockefeller Institute of Government showing that mass shooters’ weapon of choice is actually a handgun. The Rockefeller Institute looked at 50-year time frame–1966 to 2016–and found that mass shooters preferred handguns to rifles of any kind by a nearly 3 to 1 margin.