General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 15 Years After Columbine, How "Never Again" Became "Oh Well" [View all]krispos42
(49,445 posts)...ban "assault weapons" and >10 magazines.
Of course, the guns used in Columbine were bought illegally by a straw buyer, 5 years into the Clinton assault-weapon ban, and three of them were not "assault weapons"... a pump-action shotgun, a double-barreled shotgun, and a pistol-caliber carbine (short rifle).
The TEC-9 pistol was an "assault weapon" by virtue of having a magazine that was attached someplace other than through the grip AND a protective heat shield over the barrel. Now, logic would dictate that a handgun with a magazine located outside of pistol grip (usually in front of the trigger) would be worlds harder to conceal, conceal, and draw. So if anything, we should be ENCOURAGING these sorts of guns.
Same thing after Sandy Hook. The rifle was legally purchased 3 years prior to the massacre, new, from a licensed gun dealer, and it was not an "assault weapon" under Connecticut law. Between the 1994 Federal ban and Connecticut's incorporation of the federal ban into state law, "assault weapons" had been banned for 15 years prior to the legal purchase of the rifle by Lanza's mom.
Background checks would help, but Democrats can't seem to focus on just that... they have to tack on gun registration and expand the definition of "assault weapon" to include even more guns and banning magazines over an arbitrary size.
Point of fact... you do realize that our homicide rate has fallen to lows not seen since the mid-sixties, right? And it's down about 40% from 20 years ago?