Senate Democrats align behind push for assault weapon ban

An effort to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines alike has been introduced to the U.S. Senate, and Democrats appear to be aligning behind the effort.

Introduced by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), legislation has been co-sponsored by more than two dozen of her Democrat colleagues, though no Republicans have as yet joined the effort. Titled the Assault Weapons Ban of 2017, it comes with three major provisions: banning of the of the above for 205 separate military-style assault weapons; banning weapons that utilize detachable magazines or boast military characteristics; and banning magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammo. In all cases, existing items of the aforementioned sort are allowed to be kept by their current owners.

Exemptions are also laid out in the bill for 2,200 other weapons based on hunting, household defense and recreational concerns. Background checks would be implemented on future sales, trades or gifting of assault weapons, grandfathered assault weapons would need to be secured in a safe space, bump stocks would be banned outright and the transfer of high-capacity magazines would be likewise banned.

“In the wake of Parkland and countless other tragedies, it’s all too clear that we need to take action to protect our communities from gun violence,” U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said. “Students and parents across the country are courageously speaking up to shake Congress out of its complacency. We owe it to them to act. This bill is a critical step we can take to help keep weapons of war off our streets and out of our schools.”

The bill is a direct response to the recent shooting in Florida, in which 17 people were killed by a former student wielding an assault weapon. A similar effort was tried in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, back in 2013, which was ultimately defeated by a vote of 40 to 60 in the Senate.