Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 20:15, 23 July 2018

Firearm legal topics of the
United States
Amendment II Assault weapon Assault weapons legislation Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Bump stocks Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act Campus carry in the U.S. Concealed carry in the U.S. Connecticut Children's Safety Act Constitutional carry Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban Federal Assault Weapons Ban Federal Firearms Act of 1938 Federal firearms license Firearm case law Firearm Owners Protection Act Gun Control Act of 1968 Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) Gun law in the U.S. Gun laws in the U.S. by state Gun politics in the U.S. Gun show loophole High-capacity magazine ban History of concealed carry in the U.S. Homemade firearm International treaties for arms control National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 NY SAFE Act Open carry in the U.S. Right to keep and bear arms in the U.S. Second Amendment sanctuary Sullivan Act (New York) Suppressor Tiahrt Amendment Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
United States portal
v t e

Assault weapon is a term used in the United States to define some types of firearms. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazine and a pistol grip, and sometimes other features such as a vertical forward grip, flash suppressor or barrel shroud. Some firearms are specified by name. At the time that the now-defunct Federal Assault Weapons Ban passed in 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice said, "In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use." The origin of the term has been attributed to legislators, gun control groups, the media, and the firearms industry itself. It is sometimes conflated with the term "assault rifle", which refers to selective-fire military rifles that can fire in automatic and / or burst mode.

After the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, many news organizations ran stories about assault weapons, explaining their varying definitions and presenting varying opinions about whether they should be banned again at the federal level.

Definitions and usage

Drawing from federal and state law definitions, the term assault weapon refers primarily to semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns that are able to accept detachable magazines and possess one or more other features. Some jurisdictions define revolving cylinder shotguns as assault weapons. Legislative definitions do not include fully automatic weapons, which are regulated separately as Title II weapons under federal law. A key defining law was the now-defunct Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994. At that time, the United States Department of Justice said, "In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use."

Common attributes used in legislative definitions of assault weapons include:

• Semi-automatic firearm capable of accepting a detachable magazine
• Folding or telescoping (collapsible) stock, which reduces the overall length of the firearm
• A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon
• Bayonet lug, which allows the mounting of a bayonet
• Threaded barrel, which can accept devices such as a flash suppressor, Suppressor, compensator or muzzle brake
• Grenade launcher
• Barrel shroud, which prevents burning of shooter's arm or hand as a safety device.

Dictionary definitions vary from legal definitions. Dictionary.com defines "assault weapon" as "any of various automatic and semiautomatic military firearms utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge, designed for individual use." Merriam-Webster's online definition is "any of various automatic or semiautomatic firearms; especially: assault rifle."

History of terminology

In the past, the names of certain military weapons used the phrase, such as the Rifleman's Assault Weapon, a grenade launcher developed in 1977 for use with the M16 assault rifle, or the Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon, a rocket launcher introduced in 1984.

In April 1985, Art Agnos introduced in the California State Assembly a bill to ban semi-automatic "assault firearms" capable of using detachable magazines of 20 rounds or more. Speaking to the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Agnos said, "The only use for assault weapons is to shoot people." The measure did not pass when it came up for a vote.

In 2013, The Washington Post wrote of the term: "Many attribute its popularization to a 1988 paper written by gun-control activist and Violence Policy Center founder Josh Sugarmann and the later reaction to the Cleveland School massacre in Stockton, California, in January 1989." Sugarmann had written:

Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons.

The firearms industry itself introduced the term "assault weapon" to build interest in new product lines. Phillip Peterson, the author of Gun Digest Buyer’s Guide to Assault Weapons (2008) wrote:

The popularly held idea that the term 'assault weapon' originated with anti-gun activists is wrong. The term was first adopted by manufacturers, wholesalers, importers and dealers in the American firearms industry to stimulate sales of certain firearms that did not have an appearance that was familiar to many firearms owners. The manufacturers and gun writers of the day needed a catchy name to identify this new type of gun.

Conservative writer Rich Lowry said that assault weapon is a "manufactured term." Joseph P. Tartaro of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) wrote in 1994: "One of the key elements of the anti-gun strategy to gull the public into supporting bans on the so-called 'assault weapons' is to foster confusion. As stated previously, the public does not know the difference between a full automatic and a semi-automatic firearm." Robert Crook, executive director of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said "the term 'assault weapon,' as used by the media, is a media invention."

According to Charles C. W. Cooke, editor of NationalReview.com in 2015, the term “assault weapon” was invented by the marketing departments of firearms manufacturers, "a phrase that started life as little more than glossy retail pabulum has become a sharp and effective tool with which the enemies of the right to keep and bear arms have sought to sow confusion, fear, and ignorance. It is thus, too, that a set of quotidian weapons that have never posed much of a problem to anybody come to sit at the center of the national debate."

Differing state law definitions

Seven states have assault weapon bans with different definitions and characteristics.

• California defines assault weapons by name, by "series" (AK or AR-15), and by characteristic. A shotgun with a revolving cylinder is also defined as an assault weapon.
• Connecticut defines assault weapons as selective-fire firearms (including assault rifles capable of fully automatic or burst fire); semi-automatic firearms specified by name; and semi-automatic firearms with specific characteristics.
• Hawaii defines and bans assault pistols.
• Maryland defines and bans assault pistols. It regulates 45 other assault weapons listed by make and/or model including copies, regardless of manufacturer.
• Massachusetts defines assault weapons as semi-automatic firearms with the same definition provisions from the expired federal ban of 1994.
• New York had an assault weapons ban prior to 2013, but on January 16 of that year it passed the SAFE Act, which created a stricter definition of assault weapons and banned them immediately. The NY SAFE Act defines assault weapons as semi-automatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and one military-style feature, and semi-automatic shotguns with one military-style feature.
• Virginia defines certain firearms as assault weapons and regulates their sale and use.

In Illinois, proposed legislation in 2013 would have defined the term "semi-automatic assault weapon" to mean any semi-automatic firearm able to accept a detachable magazine, but it was never brought to a vote. The Illinois State Rifle Association said most of the state's firearms owners owned one or more guns that would have been banned under the proposal. The NRA said the proposal would have restricted about 75 percent of handguns and 50 percent of long guns in circulation. As municipalities, Chicago and Cook County bans certain firearms defined as assault weapons and have no provision for legal possession of firearms owned before their laws were passed. Minnesota also defines certain firearms as assault weapons and regulates their sales.

Distinction from assault rifles

The term "assault weapon" is sometimes conflated with the term "assault rifle". According to the Associated Press Stylebook, the media should differentiate between "assault rifles," which are capable of fully automatic firing, and "assault weapons," which are semiautomatic and "not synonymous with assault rifle." Civilian ownership of machine guns (and assault rifles) has been tightly regulated since 1934 under the National Firearms Act and since 1986 under the Firearm Owners Protection Act.

Cosmetic features

Gun control advocates and gun rights advocates have referred to at least some of the features outlined in assault weapons bans as "cosmetic." The NRA Institute for Legislative Action and the Violence Policy Center both used the term in 2004 when the federal ban expired. In May 2012, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said, "the inclusion in the list of features that were purely cosmetic in nature created a loophole that allowed manufacturers to successfully circumvent the law by making minor modifications to the weapons they already produced." Some reporters used the term in stories after the 2012 Aurora shooting and Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Assault weapons, also sometimes called "black guns" or "black rifles," are no more powerful than many other semi-automatic rifles legally used for hunting throughout the United States; they do not shoot faster or have greater range.

Two scholars have written: "One problem inherent in the study of is that the classifications of AW are based on cosmetic features of firearms... For instance, the Colt AR-15 series of semiautomatic rifles—the civilian version of the fully automatic M-16 rifle issued to U.S. soldiers—was subject to the 1994 AW restrictions, but the Ruger Mini-14 rifle was not banned. Yet, the Mini-14 is the same caliber, has a similar barrel length, the same semiautomatic action, and can use magazines that hold 30 rounds of ammunition. The only real meaningful difference between the two firearms is cosmetic: The AR-15 rifle looks more dangerous."

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group, states that the term assault weapon has been misapplied to many semi-automatic firearms because of their appearance and not their use in crime.

Political and legislative issues

Prominent gun-control groups that support restrictions on ownership of firearms include the Brady Campaign and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Prominent opponents of assault-weapons bans include the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America. In 2002, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre and Jim Baker said "assault weapons" is a pejorative term. The National Shooting Sports Foundation considers it a politically driven catchphrase aimed to conflate non-automatic weapons with full-automatic assault rifles.

As of 2012, there are an estimated 2.5-3.7 million rifles from just the AR-15 family of rifles in civilian use in the United States; the total number of assault weapons in the United States among all types is not known, and can not be known because of the different definitions in different jurisdictions.

Defunct U.S. Federal Assault Weapons Ban

The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994, more commonly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, expired in 2004. It banned the manufacture or importation of certain semi-automatic firearms that it defined as "semiautomatic assault weapons," commonly known as assault weapons. Any firearms so defined that were already possessed at the time the law took effect were grandfathered in, and could be legally owned or transferred. Another aspect of the law banned the manufacture or importation of magazines that could hold more than ten rounds of ammunition, with existing magazines grandfathered in as legal.

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 defined certain firearms as assault weapons based on the features they possessed. This included semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazine and at least two of these features: a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a flash suppressor or threaded barrel, a bayonet mount, or a muzzle-mounted grenade launcher. It included semi-automatic pistols with a detachable magazine and at least two of these features: a magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip, a threaded barrel, a barrel shroud, or an unloaded weight of 50 ounces or more. Additionally defined as assault weapons were semi-automatic shotguns with a rotating cylinder, or with at least two of these features: a pistol grip, a folding or telescoping stock, a detachable magazine, or a fixed magazine that can hold more than five rounds.

The ban also prohibited 19 specifically named models of firearms, as well as copies of those guns. These included the AK-47, Uzi, Galil, AR-15, FN FAL, MAC-10, Steyr AUG, TEC-9, and Armsel Striker.

Failed Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 bill

On December 16, 2012, two days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Senator Dianne Feinstein said she would introduce a new assault weapons ban on the first day of Congress. Five days later, on December 21, Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association, held a news conference repeating the NRA's opposition to additional gun laws. Feinstein and Senator Richard Blumenthal held a separate news conference in response. There, Feinstein said that it seemed to her "prudent" to register grandfathered assault weapons under the National Firearms Act (NFA). A two-page bill summary on the senator's web site also mentioned registering grandfathered assault weapons under the NFA, but the text of the bill introduced to the Senate did not include that provision.

On January 24, 2013, Feinstein introduced S. 150, the "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013." The bill was similar to the 1994 ban, but differed in that it used a one-feature test for a firearm to qualify as an assault weapon rather than the two-feature test of the 1994 ban. On April 17, 2013, it failed on a Senate vote of 60 to 40.

See also

• Semi-automatic firearm
• Military-style semi-automatic, New Zealand legal classification

Notes

1. Title II weapons are heavily regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) of June 26, 1934, passed in response to infamous Prohibition era use of Thompson Submachine Guns and the US Army's M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle.

References

1. ^ Goode, Erica (January 16, 2013). "Even Defining 'Assault Rifles' Is Complicated". The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
2. ^ Babay, Emily (December 22, 2012). "Confusion abounds: Just what is an 'assault weapon'?". Philadelphia Media Network. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
3. ^ Levs, Josh (January 31, 2013). "Loaded language poisons gun debate". CNN. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
4. ^ Tartaro, Joseph P. (1995). "The Great Assault Weapon Hoax". University of Dayton Law Review Symposium, Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, vol. 20, no. 2, 1995: 557. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
5. ^ Blake, Aaron (January 17, 2013). "Is It Fair to Call Them 'Assault Weapons'?". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
6. ^ Kauffman, Matthew (December 18, 2012). "In State With 'Assault Weapons' Ban, Lanza's Rifle Still Legal". Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Retrieved January 2, 2013. The term 'assault weapon,' as used by the media, is a media invention. These are semi-automatic firearms that have military cosmetic characteristics. They look like our military firearms, but they're not.
7. Lallanilla, Marc (January 17, 2013). "What Is an Assault Weapon?". Fox News Channel. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
8. ^ Richman, Josh (January 18, 2013). "Assault Weapons: What Are They, and Should They Be Banned?". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved January 19, 2013. In fact, the term was introduced by the gun industry itself to boost interest in new lines of firearms.
9. "Banning Assault Weapons: A Legal Primer for State and Local Action" (PDF). Legal Community Against Violence. April 2004. Retrieved December 27, 2012. Assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms designed with military features to allow rapid and accurate spray firing.
10. ^ Koerner, Brendan (September 16, 2004). "What Is an Assault Weapon? At last, you can get a semiautomatic rifle with a bayonet". Slate. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
11. ^ "Senate Bill 23 Assault Weapon Characteristics". oag.ca.gov. California DOJ. 2000. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
12. ^ "Assault weapon". State of Connecticut Judicial Branch. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
13. ^ 103rd Congress (1994). "Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, H.R.3355" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. pp. 201–15. Retrieved January 27, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
14. Ballou, James L. (2000). Rock in a Hard Place: The Browning Automatic Rifle. Collector Grade Publications Inc. pp. 77–79. ISBN 0-88935-263-1.
15. Adams, Bob (November 12, 2004). "Gun Control Debate". CQ Researcher. 14 (40). CQ Press: 949–72. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
16. Definition of "assault weapon", Dictionary.com. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
17. Definition of "assault weapon", Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
18. Jane's Infantry Weapons 1995–96, p. 219.
19. "Marine Corps Fact File: Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon (SMAW)". About.com. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
20. ^ Ingram, Carl (April 9, 1985). "Restricting of Assault-Type Guns Okd by Assembly Unit". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
21. ^ Kavey, Fred (November 1, 1985). "California: gun control's primary target". Guns & Ammo Magazine.
22. Sugarmann, Josh (1988). "Assault Weapons and Accessories in America". Violence Policy Center. Retrieved February 26, 2005.
23. Peterson, Phillip (2008). Gun Digest Buyer's Guide to Assault Weapons. Iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. p. 11. ISBN 978-0896896802.
24. Lowry, Richard (2003). Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years. Regnery Publishing. p. 96. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
25. Cooke, Charles C. W. (October 8, 2015). "Hillary & Co. Fight a Phony War on Gun Violence". National Review. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
26. "What makes the AR-15 an assault weapon?". The Economist. June 15, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
27. Nahmias, Laura (December 22, 2012). "Cuomo for Gun Laws". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 26, 2012. New York is one of only seven states that have assault-weapons bans in place, according to the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence.
28. "Frequently Asked Questions: What is considered an assault weapon under California law?". California Department of Justice. There are three categories of assault weapons under California law. The first category is firearms listed on the original Roberti-Roos assault weapons list (Penal Code section 12276, subds (a), (b), and (c)). The second category of assault weapons is AK and AR-15 series weapons, pdf (Penal Code sections 12276 (e) and (f)). The third category of assault weapons is defined by specific generic characteristics (PC section 12276.1, SB 23).
29. ^ Mantel, Barbara (March 8, 2013). "Gun Control". CQ Researcher. 23 (10). CQ Press: 233–256. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
30. "Maryland – MD Code". State Laws and Published Ordinances – Firearms (31st ed.). ATF.gov. January 2011. pp. 219–220. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
31. "General Laws: Title XX, Chapter 140, Section 121". Massachusetts Laws. The 188th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
32. "N.Y. ADC. LAW § 10-301 : NY Code – Section 10-301: Control and regulation of the disposition, purchase and possession of firearms, rifles, shotguns and assault weapons". Retrieved December 28, 2012.
33. ^ Cuomo, Andrew M. (January 16, 2013). "Governor Cuomo Signs NY Safe Act in Rochester" (Press release). Rochester, New York: Governor's Press Office. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
34. Berger, Judson (January 18, 2013). "NY Guv Looks to Clarify Gun Law After Concern About Exemption for Police". Fox News Channel. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
35. Acevedo, Edward J. (January 4, 2013). Amendment to Senate Bill 2899, Illinois General Assembly web site. Retrieved January 18, 2013. "In this Section: "Semi-automatic assault weapon" means: ... (C-2) a semi-automatic rifle or a pistol with the capacity to accept a detachable magazine, a muzzle brake, or muzzle compensator..."
36. "Illinois Assault Weapons Ban Fails Again, Votes Not There For Passage In Lame-Duck Session". The Huffington Post. January 7, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2013. State Rep. Brandon Phelps, a Harrisburg Democrat, called the bill "too broad" as it applied to too many different types of guns, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
37. ^ Chakraborty, Barnini (January 3, 2013). "Firearms Groups Fight Sweeping Illinois Gun Ban, Dems Weigh Options". Fox News Channel. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
38. "Municipal Code of Chicago – Title 8, Chapter 8-20, Article III., Section 170 – Unregisterable firearms". American Legal Publishing Corporation. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
39. "Cook County, Illinois, Code of Ordinances – Part I, Chapter 54, Article III, Division 4 – Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban". Library.municode.com. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
40. "Finally, the End of a Sad Era--Clinton Gun Ban Stricken from Books!". Fairfax, Virginia: National Rifle Association, Institute for Legislative Action. September 13, 2004. Law-abiding citizens, however, will once again be free to purchase semi-automatic firearms, regardless of their cosmetic features, for target shooting, shooting competitions, hunting, collecting, and most importantly, self-defense.
41. "Violence Policy Center Issues Statement on Expiration of Federal Assault Weapons Ban" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: Violence Policy Center. September 13, 2004. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013. Soon after its passage in 1994, the gun industry made a mockery of the federal assault weapons ban, manufacturing 'post-ban' assault weapons with only slight, cosmetic differences from their banned counterparts. {{cite press release}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
42. "Assault Weapons Policy Summary". San Francisco, California: Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. May 21, 2012.
43. Seitz-Wald, Alex (February 6, 2013). "Don't mourn the assault weapons ban's impending demise". Salon. says the ban created an artificial distinction between 'assault weapons' and other semi-automatic weapons, based almost entirely on cosmetic features. This is largely true.
44. More cosmetic sources:
    • McArdle, Megan (November 12, 2012). "Just Say No to Dumb Gun Laws". The Daily Beast. ... 'assault weapon' is a largely cosmetic rather than functional description.
    • Kopel, David (December 17, 2012). "Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown". The Wall Street Journal. None of the guns that the Newtown murderer used was an assault weapon under Connecticut law. This illustrates the uselessness of bans on so-called assault weapons, since those bans concentrate on guns' cosmetics, such as whether the gun has a bayonet lug, rather than their function.
    • Yager, Jordy (January 16, 2013). "The problem with 'assault weapons'". The Hill. Gun companies quickly realized they could stay within the law and continue to make rifles with high-capacity magazine clips if they steered away from the cosmetic features mentioned in the law.
    • Sullum, Jacob (January 30, 2013). "What's an Assault Weapon?". Reason. The distinguishing characteristics of 'assault weapons' are mainly cosmetic and have little or no functional significance in the context of mass shootings or ordinary gun crimes.
45. Roth, Alex; Prada, Paulo; Dade, Corey (March 13, 2009). "New Calls for Assault-Gun Ban". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 28, 2012. People seeking to stock up on the types of weapons that would likely be targeted by any ban—semiautomatic weapons, sometimes known as "black guns" or "black rifles"—have flocked to purchase them.
46. Harrison, Laird (December 20, 2012). "4 Myths About Assault Weapons". KQED. Retrieved December 28, 2012. But these guns are no more powerful than many semiautomatic rifles legally used for hunting in California and throughout the United States. They don't shoot farther, faster or with more power. In order to create an 'assault weapon' ban, legislators had to list specific models of guns or characteristics such as pistol grips on rifles, flash hiders, folding rifle stocks and threaded barrels for attaching silencers.
47. Decker, Scott; Ruddell, Rick (May 1, 2005). "Kids and Assault Weapons: Social Problem or Social Construction?". Criminal Justice Review. 30: 53.
48. ^ ""Background Information on So-Called 'Assault Weapons'". National Shooting Sports Foundation. December 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
49. "Federal Gun Laws: Assault-Style Weapons", Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
50. "Issues and Campaigns: Assault Weapons", Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
51. "Semi-Automatic Firearms and the 'Assault Weapon' Issue", National Rifle Association – Institute for Legislative Acton, June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
52. "Assault Weapons Bans: A Solution in Search of a Problem", Gun Owners of America, December 24, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
53. LaPierre, Wayne; Baker, James J. (2002). Shooting Straight: Telling the Truth about Guns in America. Regnery. p. 44.
54. Peters, Justin (December 20, 2012). "How Many Assault Weapons Are There in America? How Much Would It Cost the Government to Buy Them Back?". Slate. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
55. Jamieson, Dave (December 16, 2012). "Dianne Feinstein To Introduce Assault Weapons Ban On First Day Of Congress". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
56. Gold, Matea (December 21, 2012). "A defiant NRA calls for armed guards in every school". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
57. Ekins, Emily (January 30, 2013). "Just 27 Percent of Americans Say the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban Would Have Helped Avoid the Sandy Hook Shooting". Reason.
58. Feinstein, Dianne and Richard Blumenthal (December 21, 2012). Senators Feinstein and Blumenthal React to NRA. Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
59. Feinstein, Dianne and Richard Blumenthal (December 21, 2012). Senators Feinstein and Blumenthal React to NRA. Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN. Event occurs at 12:16. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
60. "Summary of 2013 Feinstein Assault Weapons Legislation" (PDF). December 26, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
61. S. 150
62. Simon, Richard (April 17, 2013). "Senate votes down Feinstein's assault weapons ban". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 26, 2013.

• Gun politics in the United States
• United States firearms law
• Firearms