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

Under the 1994 assault weapons ban mass shooting decreased until it expired and then they increased.

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2023/03/did-assault-weapon-ban-correspond-with-drop-in-mass-shootings-what-the-data-shows.html?outputType=amp

Didn't know which question to answer.

No, we're not doing enough.

Yes, I support an assault weapons ban.

The only thing all these mass murders have in common is guns. Stop the guns.

Let's get to the root of the problem with the AR-15 style weapons, the use a very high powered, very high velocity ammunition ! This ammo causes unbelievable damage to humans! Ask any doctor that has worked on a victim of this type of gun violence! Ok would for starters have a 300% tax on this ammo to help victims from this Ammo! 
Just remember we have thousands of these guns already in existence! I also know hundreds of thousands of rounds are stock piled in people's closets! But as things do happen it does get used up and people will purchase more! 
Also keep records of who purchased the round on a national database that all law enforcement can access! 

Assault weapons need to be banned, and no one should own one.

Okay @Causes. This was tricky. Which question am I answering. Should we ban assault weapons? (Yes!) Or is it Are we doing enough? (No) You can't ask two questions on the same poll that are opposing views. What the hell?

After listening to the tragic Uvalde review this morning on NPR. I was totally unaware police officers flack vest can not fend off an AR rifle bullet. The only officers with vest that can help some what was the SWAT Team who was over an hour away. Two officers were shot attempting to get the shooter. That changes my whole opinion of the AR rifle and large magazines. I am just not sure if the Ban on AR style rifles and large magazines would help. Or would it be a run on those rifles and magazines. It amazes me how companies can see the harm their products are doing. But the $$ means more than innocent lives of children and regular folks. Big business is running America. Our politicians are afraid of losing their positions in office, if they speak out. This is very similar to the tobacco industry a few years ago. Only now they make their money off countries other the United States. Sad isn't it, and we have so many frozen into the belief, they need these weapons. 

We need to do something to control the firearms that use supersonic ammunition! This high speed, high energy ammunition causes unbelievable damage to humans! It was developed for urban warfare and has no place for home defense or hunting! 
 I see this ammo on sale next to checkouts and wonder where this ammunition is going and who it's going to hurt severely! 

I fully support a ban on assault response. These weapons of war have no place in our civil society.  

This bill is a waste of time to even be on the floor. Laws dont stop criminals

"Well-regulated malitia"....how about WELL-REGULATED CITZENRY?!!!!

So, you can insure 'gun safety' for us all. Don't be cowardly anymore.

There is absolutely no reason for anyone to own an assault weapon 

The constitution is clear: if you want to play with guns you can join a well regulated militia, i.e. the armed forces. Other than that, firearms for hunting and other uses should be limited to muskets, and muskets should be licensed and insured. 

If you want to have assault weapons, join the National Guard. 
that way the mentally I'll have a better chance of being weeded out. 

Army Vet, '61-'64.

80yo, never met/saw/Heard of, any Animal, Requiring More Power than a Semi-Auto provides, to Stop Dead, any animal, except HUMANS!

Truth be Me!

Sale of guns, rifles, etc., is not the problem. The fact that databases are nation/world wide is. We should be passing bills that let law advising citizens open/conceal carry nation wide. 

Common sense tells us no American needs an assault weapon. Only a crazy person would think they need one. And I think we can all agree crazy people are the ones that really really shouldn't have them. Let's stop confusing rights with perpetuating violence. 

Gun violence is a terrible problem that has affected countless communities across the U.S. Evidence is clear that countries with tighter gun laws don't have near as many gun related tragedies. The more gun restrictions, the safer America is. 

What about mental 

Funny, if you read the Second Amendment, they don't seem to have even considered that there was any need to mention hunting, sporting, or self-defense. In 1791 it would have been absurd to suggest taking away people's ability to hunt or protect their farm.

Then what were they so concerned about that they addressed it even before amendments mentioning significant legal rights?

They intended the balance of power to favor the citizens, not the federal government.

You need to do deeper. The misuse of assault weapons speaks to a deeper social illness. We need to understand why we have many mass shootings. It isn't all guns. It isn't all mental illness. There are many causes and there isn't enough being done to address the roots and causes of the violence issue. Think of an iceberg, you only see the top third, what is there beneath the surface? It's not as easy to identify but in addressing it, you will be more helpful to society. 

We need stricker gun laws and to ban assault rifles entirely. There are way too many people with firearms who shouldn't have them under any circumstances. We must regulate handguns and ban these weapons of war within our society. 

Let's look at a recent NBC news article bemoaning weekend shootings:

"At approximately 12:25 AM police were called.." to "a peaceful "celebration of Juneteenth" that began at 6 p.m."

"The shooting came hours after two people were killed and three injured near the the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival in Washington State."

"Another deadly shooting took place just after 1 a.m. in St. Louis, Missouri... at a party being held on the fifth floor of the building, an office space..."

So, 4 people were killed at 3 different parties between the hours of 8pm and 2am. There is no specific mention of whether alcohol was involved. There is no indication whether any group rivalries were factors in motivating the violence. The type of weapons used was not specified.

What all three incidents definitely have in common is that they occurred at parties that started in the evening and lasted late into the night.

Look at the details in these "tragic weekend shootings" articles, and the times and places reveal a factor that nobody is willing to address. Think the NRA has influence? Try telling people they can't party after 10pm.

Our state has had enough 

The GOP often state that it's not the assault weapons that kill people, it's the person who owns them. I'm beyond sick of hearing that. We need to ban assault weapons, as the Clinton administration successfully did for 10 years, which resulted in significant decreases of mass shootings during that period of time. An assault weapons ban is supported by the majority of Americans, including gun owners.

Ass@ult weapons must be banned and everyone in congress knows it.  So get to work on this.  Thats what we pay you for.  Or maybe we should hold your pay until you vote yes to ban.

This legislation is unconstitutional, useless, and dangerous, and should be voted down in every form.

The Bill of Rights and many other documents which are foundational to our system of government all defend our rights as United States citizens to own and maintain arms which are practical and capable of defending our homes, state, and nation against any threats. Individual ownership of arms was not considered something to be penalized, but rather encouraged. The contemporary definition of "arms" included not only a military-grade firearm, but also a bayonet or similar device, basic standard military equipment, and a supply of ammunition. Hunting was so ubiquitous that there was no concern over specifying any protection for weapons used specifically for hunting. The weapons protected by these founding documents went above and beyond hunting or sport. The architects of our system of government wanted to ensure we were capable of defeating external threats to our safety, and any would-be tyrants which may try to corrupt and exploit our government to assert their authority over our nation.

This legislation is useless because it perpetuates prejudicial terms, ambiguous definitions, and arbitrary designations. Most of the firearm features specifically identified as particularly dangerous are merely designs intended to make using the firearm safer. Folding stocks, foregrips, threaded barrels, and even increased weight are a few of the components which are designed to make firearms manageable, quieter, and safer to use. Restricting these features will actually make firearms more unsafe.

Finally, this legislation is dangerous because it explicitly reserves the right of the government to use any and all types of weapons while denying citizens that ability. Recent events and past history provide countless occasions where the government has unjustly used deadly force on American citizens. The National Guard, which was recently used to barricade the Capitol in a show of force and intimidation, has also bayoneted, gassed, and shot college students at Kent State University. The FBI and ATF have a long history of unnecessarily provoking and escalating confrontations and using excessive deadly force both before and after Ruby Ridge and Waco.

During World War II, an official presidential executive order was used to evict Japanese-American citizens from the entire territory of Alaska, and Census Bureau records were used to forcibly evict Japanese-American citizens from their homes around the rest of the country. The military then forcibly incarcerated them in camps run by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Border Patrol, under the authority of the Department of Justice.

Not to mention the production of the Fugitive Slave Act, the Dredd Scott decision, or the countless times the government disarmed, mistreated, evicted, and incarcerated Native Americans.

Yes, gun violence is tragic. Careful examination of societal trends will point to many cultural changes responsible for an exponential increase in violence.

The solution is not to discard our constitutional rights and give the government a monopoly on deadly force. Being shot at college by the government is not better than being shot at school by a classmate.

We need to seek solutions which promote our right to a peaceful life while also respecting our right to defend that life and that peace.