Agenda Setting Paper: Assault Weapon Bans

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Introduction: What is considered an Assault Weapon There are many views about gun control especially when referring to assault weapons. People are both for it and against it. When first hearing “Assault Weapon Man”, many different images filter through one’s mind on what an assault weapon looks like and how to differentiate between an assault weapon and a regular handgun. There is still no consistent definition for an assault weapon. The only definitions that are out there are the ones found in laws, which are used to classify an assault weapon. Even those definitions are not consistent because they are changed and improved when new laws are proposed. Assault weapons are a class of semi-automatic firearms that are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently. According to the 1994 Crime Control Act an assault weapon is defined as any “semi-automatic rifle that can accept a detachable magazine and has two or more of the following: a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip, a bayonet mount, a flash suppressor or threads to attach, or a grenade launcher (Assault Weapons, 2010). Assault weapon bans infuriate many because they feel as if the ban is unconstitutional and going against the 2nd amendment while others believe that the banning of such assault weapons will decrease the number of deaths occurring by an assault weapon. What and When: The tightening of gun control laws, which paved the path for the Assault Weapon Ban, was spurred by the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Due to these assassinations President Lyndon Johnson rehabilitated the fight for gun control. The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits all convicted felons, drug users, and the mentally ill from ... ... middle of paper ... ...e if semi-automatic assault weapons by a private person, and a requirement for the attorney General to establish, maintain, ad annually report to Congress the make, model, and date of manufacture if available of any semi-automatic assault weapon which the attorney general is made aware has been used in relation to a crime under federal or state law. When it came time to vote on the amendment Democrats helped the Senate Republicans defeat the major reform to reduce gun violence. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 40-60. A nearly united front was shown by the Republicans in efforts against the reform except for one. Fifteen Democrats voted no in favor of the assault weapon ban. Even Majority Leader Harry Reid voted in favor of the amendment. Reid had been previously endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) but he said that he had to vote his conscience.

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