Joe Biden has long insisted he would ban what he calls “assault weapons” and has enlisted a motley succession of extreme anti-gun legislators to aid in that effort. Now, Senators Angus King (IND-ME) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) have joined that dubious collective by introducing perhaps the most sweeping gun prohibition bill of the 21st Century. Both had voted against prior versions of federal “assault weapons” bans, making their debut effort into the genre notable not only for its scope but as a paradigmatic in-office flip-flop. But, at the end of the day, their bill is just like its predecessors in targeting law-abiding gun owners, while leaving armed criminals unperturbed.
This bill, however, targets semiautomatic firearms of all kinds and configurations, presumptively banning them as a class, and then exempting some of them. The usual magazine ban is also included, capping legal capacity of most types of ammunition feeding devices at 10 rounds.