Pelosi says House will consider assault weapons ban legislation

Sale of new AR-15s in the USA was banned by the Federal Assault Weapons Ban from 1994 to 2004. Colt and others continued to sell legally compliant versions during that period.

[...]

To limit the availability of such weapons, Feinstein sought to forge a compromise between separate proposals offered by retiring Sens. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) and Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio).

Feinstein dropped language from the Metzenbaum bill that would give the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms authority to ban future assault weapons. To accommodate hunting and recreation enthusiasts, she exempted a 14-page list of 650 rifles and shotguns. She also inserted a 10-year sunset clause to satisfy critics who say that the bill would have no impact on crime. If a federal study proves the ban on assault rifles ineffective, the legislation would expire after a decade.

The legislation does not address the current possession of an estimated 1 million assault rifles nationwide.

“Essentially what this legislation does is (create) a freeze,” Feinstein said in an interview. “It’s not more, it’s not less. It would say you cannot manufacture these assault weapons, you cannot sell them and you cannot possess them in the future. It does not in itself take any off the streets. I don’t want to kid anybody.”

[...]

TITLE XI--FIREARMS

Subtitle A--Assault Weapons

Sec. 110101. Short title.

Sec. 110102. Restriction on manufacture, transfer, and possession of certain semiautomatic assault weapons.

Sec. 110103. Ban of large capacity ammunition feeding devices.

Sec. 110104. Study by Attorney General.

Sec. 110105. Effective date.

Sec. 110106. Appendix A to section 922 of title 18.

I had to really dig through the legislation but found her original bill language and also found the transcript of the Congressional record where she had made remarks and then the actual content of her bill was included (under "Feinstein (and others) Amendment No. 1152" ) into that record transcript - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16725309

The qualifying weapons were literally listed!

If anyone remembers what it took for James Brady to get something done after he and his party's gawd Raygun, were shot - i.e., from 1981 to 1993 before something was finally passed and signed into law in 1993 (H.R.1025 - Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act), then you can imagine trying to do the same now.

The following year, the controversial "Crime Bill" (Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994) was passed, which included a 10-year assault weapon ban, the text of which (PDF, see pgs. 28317 - 28321) was incorporated into that package (vs being separate legislation), which was to be sunsetted in 2004, and was never renewed after that.

As a note as I was going through the text of the debate transcript for Feinstein's Assault Weapons Ban Amendment, I saw where she had an exchange with gun-humper and "footsie-in-the-bathroom" Larry Craig (and I think I remember this exchange being referenced quite a bit) -

Mr. CRAIG. All right.
For a few moments this evening let
us do some reality checking. The Sen-
ator from California, in her arguments
tonight I must say, was somewhat typi-
cal of those who study the issue for the
first time and then, in a very sincere
and honest way-and I do not question
that in any sense of the word-begin to
make statements that I think are im-
portant for the record, that we estab-
lish the true context.

(snip lots of bullshit gun-humper stuff)

So the Senator from California needs
to become a little more familiar with
firearms and their deadly characteris-
tics. I say that--
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Will the Senator
yield for a point of personal privilege
for a moment, please?
Mr. CRAIG. Yes, certainly.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I am quite familiar
with firearms. I became mayor as a
product of assassination.
Mr. CRAIG. I am aware of that.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. They found my as-
sassinated colleague and you could put
a finger through the bullet hole. I pro-
posed gun control legislation in San
Francisco. I went through a recall on
the basis of it. I was trained in the
shooting of a firearm when I had ter-
rorist attacks with a bomb at my
house when my husband was dying,
when I had windows shot out. Senator,
I know something about what firearms
can do.

(snip)

pg 28293 of this (PDF)

Senator Dianne Feinstein
@SenFeinstein
Military-style assault weapons have led to the deaths of far too many Americans. Las Vegas. Dayton. Orlando. San Bernardino. Parkland. Sandy Hook. And now, Boulder. It’s time to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban and get these weapons of war out of our communities.
12:01 PM · Mar 23, 2021