by The Arizona Daily Star of Tucson has an editorial today calling for a reinstatement of the ban on “military-style assault weapons”.
Banning semiautomatic assault weapons designed to kill lots of people quickly isn’t quite as simple at it may appear on the surface. That must not keep us from trying.
In fact, even given myriad defects in the now-expired federal assault-weapons ban, we could do a lot worse than essentially reinstating it as originally written. Flawed though it was, it reduced the flow of such weapons.
Even better, Congress should consider emulating California’s assault-weapons ban.
According to the Daily Star, the California law has a one military feature and its banned. Frankly, I don’t know if they are correct or not as I haven’t had to deal with the California law. I do know that the good folks at CalGuns.net can tell you all about “bullet buttons” and other ways around the California law.
What the editorial board of the Arizona Daily Star fails to mention is that the overall crime rate has gone down since the AWB sunsetted in 2004. I guess that doesn’t fit the narrative.
UPDATE: Charles Heller of the AZ Citizens Defense League was given an opportunity to write an op-ed responding to the Daily Star. It is entitled Gun Control: Punishing the Innocent.
Their understanding of California's law is wrong, but they can be forgiven on that score, it is extremely convoluted. That said I would like to have a pistol grip and a detachable magazine at the same time and wouldn't wish my situation on anyone else.