What is an assault weapon?

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Speaking on “Meet the Press” Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she would introduce an assault weapons ban on the first day of the new congressional session. The last federal assault weapons ban, which was in force from 1994 to 2004, motivated gun rights activists and arguably did little to prevent gun violence. Is it possible to write (let alone pass) a more effective law? To answer that it's first essential to understand what was wrong with the last one.

The law banned manufacturing, transferring and possessing "semi-automatic assault rifles.” It listed “several guns by name AK-47, Uzi, Colt AR-15, and Street Sweeper, as well as copies or duplicates of these named firearms in any caliber,” according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. It also banned magazines with more than 10 round capacity. Due to a grandfather clause, however, it did not touch banned guns and accessories that were already in circulation. As a result, the Brady Campaign wrote in 2004 that gunmaker Bushmaster "apparently stockpiled enough 'pre-ban' magazines that it still markets 40 round ammunition magazines as available for sale to the general public for only $24.95." (Bushmaster still does.)

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What is an assault weapon?