Not everyone is exempted from owning military-style assault weapons under new legislationproposed by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Weapons used by government officials and law enforcement will not be prohibited by the law proposed by the California Democrat, which would prohibit the sale, manufacture and importation of 158 specifically named semi-automatic weapons and ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Any weapons legally owned before the bill’s enactment would also be exempt, although those firearms would have to be registered in a national database.
In addition, more than 2,200 types of hunting and sporting rifles and manually operated firearms would also be exempt.
The ambitious measure seeks to reinstate and expand the federal ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. While gun control restrictions — typically extremely unpopular — have floundered in Congress in recent years, there has been a renewed push for tighter regulations in the wake of last month’s elementary school shootings in Newtown, Conn.
But gun rights activists, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), have vowed to oppose any legislative action that could increase regulations on firearm ownership, claiming it is an undeniable violation of the Second Amendment.
