New federal legislation proposed by a Democrat California congresswoman would ban the importation of some semi-automatic rifles that are owned and enjoyed by many Americans.
The measure, by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., would require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to publish a list of the so-called “assault weapons” that would be prohibited from importation into the country, including the popular AK-47. Speier says the AK and other rifles on her list “are not suitable or readily adaptable for sporting purposes”—a clear lie given how many people shoot them at ranges throughout the country on a regular basis.
Obviously Speier’s proposal has nothing to do with crime, as the FBI reports that less than 2.4 percent of murders are committed with rifles of any kind. Given that, the number of murders committed with imported semi-autos must be in fractions of 1 percent. So could it be that this measure is just a first step to banning all semi-auto rifles—imported or not?
