General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 300+ teens attack pedestrians on Chicago's Magnificent mile. 28 arrested [View all]pipoman
(16,038 posts)defines "assault weapon". There has never been a AWB which wasn't, with the exception of magazine capacity, which wasn't entirely about cosmetics because if function is specified it would necessarily effect 100 year old family heirlooms. So if Colt issued a XR15 (as you suggested) without the various features specified in the fictional AWB, on what grounds would your board have to deny it to the market place?
"Let's let the courts determine constitutionality, and let the people and their reps decide the law."...except you are suggesting a panel of bureaucrats to do the job of the court.
It seems that it should be easy to write an unambiguous definition of "assault weapon" but it has proven to be impossible without inclusion of millions of people's sporting and hunting guns too. There is a film on youtube showing the Director of the BATFE and several firearms experts telling a congressional committee just that..I believe the reason there is no federal AWB going to be passed again in our lifetimes is two fold,,1) impossible to produce an unambiguous definition of AW and 2) there are 10's of millions of modern rifles in private ownership "in common use for lawful purposes", the standard set by SCOTUS in 1939..