The U.S. House of Representatives voted to ban many semi-automatic rifles, pistols and shotguns, which they deliberately mislabel as “assault weapons” for purely political purposes.
H.R. 1808, titled the “Assault Weapons Ban Act of 2021,” was passed largely along party lines by a vote of 217-213. The ban is reminiscent of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban that was enacted in 1994.
“Barely a month after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen, gun-control advocates in Congress are spearheading an assault upon the freedoms and civil liberties of law-abiding Americans. The promises made in H.R. 1808 are nothing short of a lie based on willful ignorance of the disastrous 1994 Clinton Gun Ban, which failed to produce any significant drop in crime,” said Jason Ouimet, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA).
We’ve previously detailed—as has NRA-ILA—the problems with this bill and how it does nothing to address actual problems in society, while instead blaming law-abiding Americans for the actions of a few murderers. Though many politicians will tout the success of the 1994 ban this is modeled on, Department of Justice-funded studies were unable to show that the measure reduced crime. Thankfully, that ban expired in 2004, but 18 years later, anti-gun lawmakers want to again ban America’s rifle.
This decision also flies in the face of D.C. v Heller’s (2008) “common-use” standard, as more than 24 million of these rifles are currently in circulation, according to recent statistics from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
“With more than 24 million potentially-banned firearms in common use, these draconian restrictions fall in blatant opposition to the Supreme Court's rulings in Bruen, Caetano v. Massachusetts, and D.C. v. Heller. Their refusal to recognize this reality places everyone at risk. Any legitimate attempt to address our nation’s surge in violent crime cannot commence until anti-gun legislators step away from the radicals who defund our police departments, support prosecutors who refuse to prosecute dangerous criminals, and promote no cash bail policies that have turned once proud communities into a playground of lawlessness and fear,” added Ouimet.
This egregious bill will now head to the Senate. It is crucial for NRA members to make their voices heard by contacting their respective senators so that we may continue to fight this overreaching and unconstitutional piece of legislation.
