BILL: Ban Assault Weapons? - Assault Weapons Ban of 2023 - S.25

Bill

S.25 - Assault Weapons Ban of 2023

Bill Status

• Sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) by Jan. 1, 2023, 
• Committees: Senate - Judiciary
• Senate: Not yet passed
• President: Not yet signed

Bill Overview

• The bill bans the sale, manufacture, transfer, and importation of 205 military-style assault weapons by name.
• It exempts more than 2,200 guns from the ban, which can still be used for hunting, household defense, or recreational purposes.
• It shall be unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semi-automatic assault weapon.
• Requires a background check on any future sale, trade, or gifting of an assault weapon banned under the bill.
• Imposes secure storage procedures for grandfathered semi-automatic assault weapons like a trigger lock.
• Anyone in possession of a grandfathered weapon can not keep it in a place where it is accessible to an individual prohibited from possessing the firearm.

What's in the Bill?

Would make communities safer

• A vast majority of mass shootings in the U.S. involve assault rifles, which are designed to kill quickly in a military context.
• Since 2006, 2,880 people have died in mass shootings in the U.S.

Would re-establish former assault weapons ban 

• The bill is a more expansive modern version of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban.
• From 1994 through 2004, when the federal ban on assault weapons was in place, mass shootings decreased. Data shows an immediate rise in shootings after the ban expired in 2004.

Bans the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons

• Bans high-capacity magazines and ammunition-feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
• It also bans bump-fire stocks and other devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at fully automatic rates.

Ban the AR-15 assault rifle

• Barry Moore (R-Ala.) has promoted a bill to make the AR-15 the national gun of the U.S. This bill would outlaw the possession of AR-15s.
• As of May 2022, before the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings, 51% of Americans favored a nationwide ban on the sale of AR-15 rifles.

Creates a record of crimes that have been committed with a banned weapon

• Enables the Attorney General to establish and maintain records of any semi-automatic assault weapons used in committing a crime. The Attorney General will submit the records to Congress and make the records public on an annual basis.

What Supporters are Saying

• Sen. Feinstein said:

"The constant stream of mass shootings have one common thread: they almost all involve assault weapons. It's because these weapons were designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible. They have no business in our communities or schools. It's time we stand up to the gun lobby and remove these weapons of war from our streets, or at the very least keep them out of the hands of young people."

• Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said:

"Assault weapons have only one practical purpose – to kill or injure human beings. These military-style combat weapons – built for the battlefield and designed to maximize death and destruction – have brought bloodshed and carnage to our streets and continue to be the weapon of choice in countless mass shootings. Guns don't respect state boundaries, which is why we need a national solution to restricting the ownership and use of assault weapons. Now is the time to honor gun violence victims and survivors with this common sense action."

• Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) said:

"It is far past time to reenact an assault weapons ban and get these weapons of war out of our communities."

What Opponents are Saying

• Rep. Moore, the sponsor of the bill that would make the AR-15 the national symbol of the U.S., said: 

"The anti-Second Amendment group won't stop until they take away all your firearms. One rule to remember: any government that would take away one right would take away them all."

Are we doing enough to address gun violence?

—Emma Kansiz 

(Photo Credit: Canva)