Stupid Question
It’s good to see a Democrat oppose the assault weapons ban, which is what Max Burns states he is. Excellent. However, even those that oppose the ban aren’t sure what the ban does. I sent him the following email:
You ask:
“Who needs an AK-47 when you can kill something just as dead with a sturdy old Winchester? Who needs a cyclic rate of fire of 600 rounds a minute when one shot from a well-aimed hunting rifle will kill something just the same? This was the question I always posed to pro-gun advocates when I was standing up for the now defunct Assault Weapons Ban of 1994. It was a good question, one I’ve yet to meet a good answer to. “
An AK47 that can fire 600 RPM is a machine gun (i.e., fully automatic and not semi-automatic) and was not covered by the 1994 assault weapons ban. Machine guns fall under 2 federal statutes: 1 – the 1934 Nationa Firearms Act (which requires approval from law enforcement and a $200 tax); and 2 – the 1986 Hughes Amendment to the Firearms Owners Protection Act which prohibits the transfer of new machine guns to citizens.
A machine gun was not covered by the Assault Weapons Ban, which merely banned guns that look like assault weapons.
Regards,
He did manage to answer his own question, by the way. He responded pretty quickly with:
I was using the AK-47 as a figure of speech to show the general ignorance about the true facts of gun rights and the AWB. A lot of people didn’t realize this, and I apologize for not making it clearer.
At least he’s on the right side.
