Feinstein to introduce assault weapons ban

On the first day of the new Congress, the California Democrat will introduce the bill in the Senate

Published December 16, 2012 4:55PM (EST)

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Sunday that she plans to introduce an assault weapons ban bill on the first day of the new Congress.

Following the horrifying murder of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school, the debate over gun control has reached fever pitch. Following the mass shooting in July at a Colorado movie theater, Feinstein also called for the ban on assault weapons to be renewed (it was introduced by Bill Clinton in 1994 but has since expired). Feinstein noted that she and her colleagues had been working on the bill for a year, not only in the wake of the Newtown massacre.

Feinstein's new bill will  "ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession [of assault weapons], not retroactively, but prospectively, And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets. So there will be a bill," she said Sunday.

[h/t Huffpo]

 


By Natasha Lennard

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com.

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Assault Weapons Ban Dianne Feinstein Gun Control Guns Meet The Press Newtown School Shooting U.s. Senate