Sen. Hirono, Democrats Propose Ban on Assault Weapons

Senators Mazie K. Hirono and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced legislation Wednesday to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The proposed legislation comes after two mass shootings in six weeks, including the recent shooting at a Texas church that killed 26 people on Sunday.

“Thoughts, prayers, and moments of silence will not curb the epidemic of mass shootings in our country,” said Sen. Hirono. “Removing military-style assault weapons from our streets is a concrete step we can take to reduce gun violence.”

The Assault Weapons Ban of 2017 would:

· Ban the sale, manufacture, transfer, and importation of 205 military-style assault weapons by name. Owners can keep existing weapons.
· Ban any assault weapon that accepts a detachable ammunition magazine and has one or more military characteristics, including a pistol grip, a forward grip, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel, or a folding or telescoping stock. Owners can keep existing weapons.
· Bans magazines and other ammunition feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, which allow shooters to quickly fire many rounds without needing to reload. Owners can keep existing magazines.

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tom Carper (D-Conn.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Corey Booker (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) also cosponsored the bill.