Posts Tagged ‘assault weapons’

Since President Obama announced his support for laws requiring universal background checks on all gun buyers, banning military-style assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines, and punishing gun traffickers, there has been significant discussion about the constitutionality of these proposals under the Second Amendment. In order to move forward on real change to our nation’s gun laws, it’s vitally important that legislators understand that the president’s proposed reforms are completely constitutional and are critical to stopping our nation’s gun violence epidemic.

Today, a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Proposals to Reduce Gun Violence: Protecting Our Communities While Respecting the Second Amendment.” In written testimony submitted to the subcommittee, our Legal Director, Juliet Leftwich, discussed how the Second Amendment presents no obstacle to President Obama’s proposals. The testimony explained that although the U.S. Supreme Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects the right of a law-abiding, responsible citizen to possess a handgun in the home for self-defense, the president’s proposals are consistent with the Supreme Court’s decisions and the decisions of courts that have evaluated Second Amendment challenges since Heller.

Additionally, the Center for American Progress today released a memo coauthored by the Law Center’s Executive Director, Robyn Thomas, on the constitutionality of the proposals endorsed by the president. The memo concludes that “many forms of firearm regulation remain constitutional, including laws to prevent firearm possession by criminals and limitations on the possession of dangerous and unusual weapons. The measures endorsed by President Obama and proposed by Congress are safely within these confines and reflect the sort of reasonable regulation that the Supreme Court endorsed in Heller and has accepted in a host of other constitutional contexts.”

Senator Feinstein is right. Weapons of war don’t belong on our streets. That’s why she fought for our safety this morning and introduced a new ban on assault weapons – weapons designed for combat that continue to make battlegrounds out of our movie theaters, shopping malls, and elementary schools across the country.

This is a huge step. If Senator Feinstein’s bill becomes law, it will keep many dangerous weapons out of our communities. She is relying on you to make sure it becomes a reality. She has taken a stand for the majority of Americans who believe that these military-style weapons don’t belong in our neighborhoods, and she needs us to take up the fight to ensure that Congress acts. As she said today:

There is one great hope out there and that is you. Because you are stronger than the gun lobby. You are stronger than gun manufacturers … Only if you stand up, if America rises up, if people care enough to call every member of the House and every member of the Senate and say, “We have had enough.”

We all need to make sure that Congress hears our demands. Stand with Senator Feinstein and tell Congress to protect our communities from these weapons of war by supporting the 2013 Assault Weapon Ban.

Sign her petition to Congress here. http://bit.ly/FeinsteinAWB

It is not too late to prevent the next disaster. Today is the day to demand that Congress takes action.

This is what we’ve been waiting for. President Obama outlined bold, courageous, and comprehensive steps to address the devastating gun violence that our communities face every single day – exactly what we asked of him.

Obama’s commitment today – to support federal legislation to fix our background check system and to ban military-style assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines – confirms that we are at a historic moment.

We commend President Obama’s swift and thorough executive actions and the outstanding leadership of Vice President Biden and his task force as essential first steps in addressing the epidemic of gun violence in America. We know that we have a long road ahead to achieve safer communities, and it’s going to take all of us to make real and lasting change. As the President said:

“This will not happen unless the American people demand it.”

That means all of us. President Obama has called on all of us to ask our members of Congress to support the president’s recommendations for real change. If they tell you that they don’t support these measures, ask them, “Why not?” Ask them, “What is more important than keeping our families safe?”

We are responsible for each other. The President and the White House have committed to do their part. It’s imperative that we each do ours.

Find your member of Congress now and make the call: http://bit.ly/myrepresentative

Today marks another dark anniversary in our country’s history. Two years ago, our nation mourned a horrific act in Tucson, Arizona – where a beloved congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head by a dangerously mentally ill man and barely survived. Six Americans in the crowd were killed and thirteen were gravely wounded alongside her. Since then, we, as a nation, have witnessed shooting after shooting – in our theatres, shopping malls, and houses of worship – yet have done next to nothing to stop them.

We cannot let this violence continue.

Gabby Giffords is not willing to stand by and do nothing. The horrific event that changed her life two years ago today has made her more resilient and determined than ever. Earlier today, she announced that she and her husband Mark Kelly will fight to find responsible solutions to the massive loss of life that we experience on a daily basis.

“We have experienced too much death and hurt to remain idle. Our response to the Newtown massacre must consist of more than regret, sorrow and condolence. The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve fellow citizens and leaders who have the will to prevent gun violence in the future.”

That means all of us. Help us thank Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly for their bravery and tenacity by joining them. Your voice is needed to tell your legislators that you support them and will continue to support them in the fight to end these tragedies.

Vice President Biden’s task force is in meetings this week to discuss the next steps. Please call your legislators and tell them that you want them to support the following smart and effective solutions to the end the bloodshed:

1) A background check with all gun sales
2) A ban on military-style assault weapons
3) A ban on large capacity ammunition magazines – some of which can hold 100 rounds of ammunition

Tell them that they must take action today – because the safety of our loved ones depends on it.

Find your legislators now and call: http://bit.ly/myrepresentative

Click here to see a larger version of this diagram.

As devastating tragedies like Newtown all too frequently remind us, military-style assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines present serious threats to the safety of communities nationwide. To help communities prevent future violence, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence has developed a new model law to ban these dangerous weapons of war.

The model combines the best elements of assault weapon bans in states across the country, bringing together the strongest and most effective provisions — as well as important findings about the need for these laws — into a single document. It is based on our expert review of existing laws, judicial decisions, policy research, studies, and other gun violence prevention data.

Download our Model Law to Ban Assault Weapons
and Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines

For more information on assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines generally, see the Law Center’s policy discussions on these topics.

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence applauds President Obama’s strong words in yesterday morning’s press conference announcing that a gun violence task force headed by Vice President Biden will lead to “concrete proposals no later than January.”

On Tuesday, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and 25 other state and national gun violence prevention organizations wrote to President Obama to thank him for speaking out in the wake of last week’s devastating shooting in Newtown, and to urge him to provide the leadership needed for the passage of sensible laws to prevent future tragedies.

Appointing a task force is a critical first step to curbing the flow of guns in to the hands of dangerous people. There are many steps the President can take today – including supporting many bills that are being introduced. Our coalition of gun violence prevention organizations offers support to the administration and Congress.

“We have been greatly encouraged by President Obama’s words since the horrific tragedy in Newtown,” said Robyn Thomas, Executive Director of the Law Center, which was formed in the wake of an assault weapon massacre at a law firm in San Francisco in 1993. “We appreciate the President’s past expression of support for laws banning assault weapons and requiring background checks on all gun buyers, and are hopeful that his commitment to use the power of this office to reduce gun violence will provide the catalyst needed for the adoption of those laws.”

Read and share our letter to President Obama below.

Email President Obama right now and thank him for his action: http://1.usa.gov/12AjM5o

He needs to know that we support him today.

President Obama wins re-election on Tuesday. Photographer: Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images

Now that the long, bitter presidential campaign is finally over, President Obama can turn his full attention to the job of governing. Although his second term will no doubt be filled with continuing challenges — the looming fiscal cliff and struggling economy among them — it will also provide an opportunity for him to focus on issues that he personally cares about, unshackled by the prospects of yet another political campaign.

We believe that gun violence is — and should be — one of those issues. Although both recent presidential candidates barely mentioned guns and the more than 100,000 shootings that occur each year in America, in 2008, candidate Obama openly promised to fight for stronger gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons. In an op-ed he wrote for the Arizona Daily Star after the Tucson massacre in 2011, President Obama also expressed support for laws requiring background checks on all gun buyers. And in an address to the National Urban League following the Aurora movie theater slaughter, the President reiterated his support for both types of laws, acknowledging the tragic daily impact gun violence has on communities across America and lamenting that:

Every day — in fact, every day and a half — the number of young people we lose to violence is about the same as the number of people we lost in that movie theater. For every Columbine or Virginia Tech, there are dozens gunned down on the streets of Chicago and Atlanta, and here in New Orleans. For every Tucson or Aurora, there is daily heartbreak over young Americans shot in Milwaukee or Cleveland. Violence plagues the biggest cities, but it also plagues the smallest towns. It claims the lives of Americans of different ages and different races, and it’s tied together by the fact that these young people had dreams and had futures that were cut tragically short.

While President Obama’s public statements about firearm violence — the few that there have been so far — reflect his concern about the issue and his support for laws that keep our communities safe, those words have not yet translated into any meaningful action. Gun sales soared leading up to and during Obama’s first term after the NRA and other pro-gun groups claimed that the President had a “secret plan” to ban all guns. Of course, that never happened, and never could happen, either legally or politically. Ironically, the only legislative action President Obama has undertaken on guns during his presidency is to sign a bill allowing guns in national parks, despite the fact that the American public — including most gun owners — support a wide range of laws that can and do save lives.

President Obama must now consider how he wants to be remembered by history. Is he willing to be remembered as yet another politician who witnessed mass shooting after mass shooting, yet failed to act on the basis of political expediency? Or will he stand up for what he and the country believe in – -the right of all Americans to live in communities free from gun violence — and finally show true leadership on this issue?

We can expect to hear President Obama and Mitt Romney discuss a variety of issues in their first head-to-head debate Wednesday night, but will they talk about guns? With the debate taking place at the University of Denver – located just a short drive from both Aurora and Columbine High School – and with 100,000 Americans killed or injured every year with firearms, you’d think it would be impossible to avoid the topic. Shockingly, though, neither candidate has offered much leadership about solutions to our gun violence epidemic, even as mass shooting tragedies like last Thursday’s workplace shooting in Minneapolis continue to occur with an alarming frequency.

Around the country, concerned Americans are calling on Denver debate moderator Jim Lehrer to ask the candidates about gun violence. But what exactly should Lehrer ask? It would be too easy for both candidates to offer facile condolences and platitudes without the right questions, so here are three questions that both candidates ought to answer about keeping our communities safe from gun violence.

1. Virtually everyone agrees that people should be required to pass criminal background checks before getting their hands on guns. How would you help close the loopholes that allow dangerous individuals to legally buy firearms without fulfilling this basic requirement?

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image from aroundcarson.com

A year ago today, four people were killed and seven more injured by a man with an assault weapon at an IHOP in Carson City, Nevada. Immediately, survivors and members of law enforcement issued calls for change. “I can’t imagine why we are even selling assault weapons to civilians,” said shooting survivor and National Guard Sergeant Caitlin Kelly. “There’s no reason for an AK-47 or an M-16 or an M-4 to be in a civilian’s home.” The sheriff of nearby Washoe County concurred, urging the public to “stand up and demand change.”

Heeding the call for action, an advisory commission tasked with reviewing the state’s criminal justice system scheduled a hearing to gather information about assault weapons. The commission invited one of our attorneys to participate, alongside representatives from the Nevada Sheriffs and Chiefs Association and the National Rifle Association. We accepted the invitation, pleased to have the opportunity to provide our expertise. That discussion was scheduled for last Tuesday. Unfortunately, it never happened.

In the weeks leading up to the scheduled hearing date, pro-gun supporters inundated the commission with e-mails, phone calls and letters. The NRA sent an alert to its members encouraging them to attend the hearing and voice their opposition to regulating assault weapons. The group, which didn’t want to talk about the devastation the Carson City victims and their families suffered in the aftermath of that tragedy, was now more than willing to talk about their real priority – keeping dangerous military-style firearms legal. After all, according to the Nevada State Rifle and Pistol Association, assault weapons are just plain “fun to shoot.”

At the hearing, with a crowd of pro-gun supporters watching, Judge David Barker, a commission member, questioned the authority of the commission to discuss assault weapons. Despite assurance from the commission’s legal counsel that the subject fit well within the body’s purview, the commission then voted, eight to five, to remove the issue from its agenda. It was a shocking, last-minute decision, and the commission’s counsel told us he had never seen anything like it.

READ MORE »

Updated August 16, 2012

California’s assault weapons ban is the strongest law of its kind anywhere in the United States. It is a critically important measure that protects law enforcement and the public from military-style firearms that have no place in our communities. Now, this law is under attack, as firearm manufacturers have begun to reintroduce assault weapons into California, including a version of the Smith & Wesson assault rifle used in the recent massacre in Aurora, Colorado, using a feature called the “bullet button”.

James Holmes used an M&P15 like the one on the left in the Aurora, Colorado massacre. Displayed on the right is a virtually identical weapon, equipped with a bullet button, that is now available in California.¹

California’s Assault Weapons Ban

California law defines prohibited assault weapons to include firearms that have both the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and one of a list of specific military-style features. These features help assailants kill as many people as possible by enabling them to spray large amounts of fire quickly and accurately. An assault weapon’s ability to accept detachable magazines helps a shooter quickly reload the firearm in order to commit maximum damage.

California’s assault weapons ban, however, does not define the term “detachable magazine.” Perplexingly, current regulations define “detachable magazine” in a manner that runs counter to both the spirit and the letter of the state’s assault weapons law.² Under the regulations, if any “tool,” including a bullet, is required to release a firearm’s magazine, then the weapon does not have the capacity to accept a detachable magazine, and is therefore not within the scope of the ban.

The Bullet Button

Using these regulations as cover, firearm manufacturers have begun to introduce “California compliant” weapons that are equipped with the “bullet button,” a button that a user may depress, using a bullet, to trigger the release of the gun’s ammunition magazine. Bullet button-equipped firearms are functionally the same as illegal assault weapons. It is just as easy for a firearm user to use a bullet to depress a button and trigger the release of a magazine as it is to use a finger to complete the same task. As a result, these weapons represent a serious and immediate threat to California’s assault weapons ban and to the safety of Californians statewide.

Legislation to Clarify State’s Assault Weapons Law was Introduced in 2012

Introduced by State Senators Yee and Steinberg, SB 249 would have addressed this pressing problem. The bill would have provided a statutory definition of “detachable magazine” in order to clarify that firearms with features like the bullet button are, as common sense and the statute’s plain language would indicate, illegal assault weapons. SB 249 would have also empowered the Department of Justice to adopt new regulations to block any further attempts to subvert the assault weapons law. The bill was supported by the California Department of Justice, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and a wide variety of state gun violence prevention groups.

Although SB 249 was initially set for hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the bill was held in committee. The Law Center remains committed to solving this issue moving forward.

1. For more information on the bullet button, see the May 2012 Violence Policy Center study, Bullet Buttons: The Gun Industry’s Attack on California’s Assault Weapons Ban. [↩]
2. Cal. Admin. Code tit. 11, § 5469(a). [↩]