By now, everyone in the firearms community should be aware of President Obama’s desire to reinstate the assault weapons ban if reelected. President Bill Clinton signed the original assault weapons ban into law in 1994. It deemed certain makes and models illegal, as well as certain cosmetic features, such as pistol grips and telescoping stocks. If you owned an ‘assault weapon’ before the ban, it was automatically grandfathered, however, manufacturers could no longer make guns with certain characetistics. Due to supply and demand, the assault weapons ban drove firearms and magazine prices sky high. Pre-ban magazines sold up to four times its original selling price. For example, Glock-factory 12-round magazines were $100 a pop. Today, a Glock 17 factory magazine that holds 17 rounds retails for less than $25. To learn more about the original Assault Weapons Ban, Will the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban be Reinstated?
The ban expired September 2004, but California, Connecticut, Illinois, District of Columbia, New York and New Jersey still have assault weapons bans on the books. In fact, New York’s law bans any “…semi-automatic version of an automatic rifle, shotgun or firearm.” Three years ago, 500,000 AR-15s were manufactured. It is the most popular rifle in the United States. If you own one for home defense, hunting or even just for fun, during a new assault weapons ban, your AR-15 might just be illegal.
The assault weapons ban will be based on firearms that the government sees fit only for “…the
battlefields of war,” based on certain visual characteristics, not how the gun functions.
Congress passed the original Assault Weapons Ban in 1994. Rumor has it our present Congress does not show support for reinstatement of the ban, however President Obama can use an executive order and bypass Congress all together. After all, as of October 2012, President Obama has already issued 140 executive orders.
We know what the old assault weapons ban looked like, but what would a new, federal assault weapons ban include? No doubt it would ban AR-15s and AK-47s. If we look at what the gun control lobby has pushed recently, high-capacity magazines, incredibly high taxes on firearms and ammunition, limits to the number of firearms you can purchase in a month, microstamping, closing of private transactions and gun show sales, and a cease to mail-order ammunition sales.
I examined the states’ laws that currently have an assault weapons ban in place and drew my own conclusions about what President Obama’s assault weapons ban could look like:
• A federal register of your firearms
• Ban on .50 BMG
• No private sales of firearms
• Limitation on the amount of ammunition you can possess
• Microstamping
• Limitations on how many guns you may own
• Class III items such as machine guns, suppressors, and short-barreled rifles would become illegal
• Ban on handguns
• Magazine capacity limits
• National FOID cards (like Illinois’ Firearms Owners Identification Card)
• No mail order ammunition. Ammunition would have to be bought in person
• Up to a 500 percent tax on firearms and ammunition
• No importation of firearms or firearm parts
• Gun length, size and weight restrictions
Due to these restrictions competition rifles, pistols and shotguns would be deemed illegal. The shooting sports would drastically change. 3-gun, IDPA and USPSA rules and requirements would have to change. Hog hunting wouldn’t be half as fun with a five-round, bolt-action Remington. Many of America’s legendry and most popular guns made by Colt, Bushmaster, and Thompson would be illegal—even the Ruger Mini-14. Connecticut’s assault weapons ban specifically states the Ruger Mini-14 with folding stock is a banned firearm.
Looking at President Obama’s history as a United States Senator from Illinois, his legislation could possibly pave the way to more than just the banning of assault weapons. In the past, President Obama supported:
• Banning the sales of semi-automatic firearms
• Requiring gun manufacturers to provide child safety locks
• Banning the manufacture of handguns
• Sponsoring a bill allowing only one handgun purchase per month
• Limiting where gun stores can be located
• Banning the purchase of guns at gun shows
• Lawsuits against gun manufacturers
• Banning concealed carry (in 2004, President Obama said, “I continue to support a ban on concealed carry laws.”)
• Increasing licensing fees to obtain a Federal Firearms License (FFL)
• Passing a class before purchasing a firearm
• Gun manufacturers developing technology allowing only the original purchaser of a gun to fire the weapon
• An exorbitant amount of tax of ammunition and firearms
Unfortunately, we have an extremely biased and uneducated media that perpetuate lies about firearms and skew facts. While the truth—according to Gun Facts—is that assault weapons are used in less than one percent of all homicides.
The old assault weapons ban was more a symbolic gesture of power. A new assault weapons ban will be more about true control.
What do you think would be on Obama’s assault weapons ban? Tell me in the comment section.
President Obama has stated gun owners agree that AK-47s should only be given to soldiers. As a gun owner, I do not agree.
The ban expired September 2004, but California, Connecticut, Illinois, District of Columbia, New York and New Jersey still have assault weapons bans on the books. In fact, New York’s law bans any “…semi-automatic version of an automatic rifle, shotgun or firearm.” Three years ago, 500,000 AR-15s were manufactured. It is the most popular rifle in the United States. If you own one for home defense, hunting or even just for fun, during a new assault weapons ban, your AR-15 might just be illegal.
The assault weapons ban will be based on firearms that the government sees fit only for “…the
battlefields of war,” based on certain visual characteristics, not how the gun functions.
Congress passed the original Assault Weapons Ban in 1994. Rumor has it our present Congress does not show support for reinstatement of the ban, however President Obama can use an executive order and bypass Congress all together. After all, as of October 2012, President Obama has already issued 140 executive orders.
We know what the old assault weapons ban looked like, but what would a new, federal assault weapons ban include? No doubt it would ban AR-15s and AK-47s. If we look at what the gun control lobby has pushed recently, high-capacity magazines, incredibly high taxes on firearms and ammunition, limits to the number of firearms you can purchase in a month, microstamping, closing of private transactions and gun show sales, and a cease to mail-order ammunition sales.
I examined the states’ laws that currently have an assault weapons ban in place and drew my own conclusions about what President Obama’s assault weapons ban could look like:
• A federal register of your firearms
• Ban on .50 BMG
• No private sales of firearms
• Limitation on the amount of ammunition you can possess
• Microstamping
• Limitations on how many guns you may own
• Class III items such as machine guns, suppressors, and short-barreled rifles would become illegal
• Ban on handguns
• Magazine capacity limits
• National FOID cards (like Illinois’ Firearms Owners Identification Card)
• No mail order ammunition. Ammunition would have to be bought in person
• Up to a 500 percent tax on firearms and ammunition
• No importation of firearms or firearm parts
• Gun length, size and weight restrictions
Due to these restrictions competition rifles, pistols and shotguns would be deemed illegal. The shooting sports would drastically change. 3-gun, IDPA and USPSA rules and requirements would have to change. Hog hunting wouldn’t be half as fun with a five-round, bolt-action Remington. Many of America’s legendry and most popular guns made by Colt, Bushmaster, and Thompson would be illegal—even the Ruger Mini-14. Connecticut’s assault weapons ban specifically states the Ruger Mini-14 with folding stock is a banned firearm.
• Banning the sales of semi-automatic firearms
• Requiring gun manufacturers to provide child safety locks
• Banning the manufacture of handguns
• Sponsoring a bill allowing only one handgun purchase per month
• Limiting where gun stores can be located
• Banning the purchase of guns at gun shows
• Lawsuits against gun manufacturers
• Banning concealed carry (in 2004, President Obama said, “I continue to support a ban on concealed carry laws.”)
• Increasing licensing fees to obtain a Federal Firearms License (FFL)
• Passing a class before purchasing a firearm
• Gun manufacturers developing technology allowing only the original purchaser of a gun to fire the weapon
• An exorbitant amount of tax of ammunition and firearms
Unfortunately, we have an extremely biased and uneducated media that perpetuate lies about firearms and skew facts. While the truth—according to Gun Facts—is that assault weapons are used in less than one percent of all homicides.
The old assault weapons ban was more a symbolic gesture of power. A new assault weapons ban will be more about true control.
What do you think would be on Obama’s assault weapons ban? Tell me in the comment section.
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