What Feinstein’s Failed to Tell You

During a lengthy and at times emotionally wrenching news conference, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California on Thursday announced legislation that would ban the sale and manufacture of 157 types of semiautomatic weapons, as well as magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition…

Surrounded by victims of gun violence, colleagues in the Senate and House and several law enforcement officials, and standing near pegboards with several large guns attached, Ms. Feinstein acknowledged the difficulty in pursuing such legislation, even when harnessing the shock and grief over the shooting of 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., last month. “This is really an uphill road,” Ms. Feinstein said…

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
I’ve just finished reading the 122 pages of Diane Feinstein’s latest “gun-control” bill, Senate Bill S.150, and was surprised to find some important things missing.

Even more surprising was one small item briefly mentioned on page 13 that has not been reported in any “news” coverage I have seen.



The problem on page 13:
All semi-autos are outlawed, not just some.

Pro-rights and anti-rights attention has been focused on the tremendous list of guns that would be banned under Feinstein’s bill, which takes up a significant portion of the 122 pages of this proposal.

Here’s the problem none of the “news” reports have spotted:

The list of guns doesn’t matter.

Magazine size doesn’t matter.

If the semi-auto firearm has anything to grip it by, it is banned.

It’s very clever actually.

According to the bill, any semiautomatic firearm that uses a magazine — handgun, rifle or shotgun — equipped with a “pistol grip,” would be banned. That sounds like a limitation, but it is not.
A pistol grip (on page 2) is defined (on page 13) as “a grip, a thumb-hole stock, or any other characteristic that can function as a grip.” In other words, the gun list does not matter. It is a smokescreen designed to distract people from the true meaning of the bill. And it has done a magnificent job. It worked!

Any semi-automatic firearm that exists, with anything on it you can grip, is banned. (There is a grandfather clause for old stuff.)

The list is meaningless tripe. It is camouflage for the real purpose of the bill. When the president said he is not going to take away your guns, well, Feinstein’s bill puts the lie to that.
Magazine size does not matter. Brand name does not matter. It doesn’t matter if it’s black. If you can grip it, it’s banned under this bill.

Read the full article: http://www.ammoland.com/2013/01/every-gun-with-a-grip-is-banned/

Pass this to all your friends. This has to be read. Next, get on the phone with your elected officials and let them know that they must not vote for this bill.

18 Comments

  1. Jason on January 30, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    Not true. The clause in question specifically says “Any semi-automatic rifle”. This would not apply to pistols. Its the same AWB as before, with a single “evil feature” test, and getting rid of pistol grip loopholes. A bigger issue IMO is – isn’t a standard stock a grip?



  2. Anonymous on January 31, 2013 at 1:19 am

    […] […]



  3. Weer'd Beard on January 31, 2013 at 3:28 am

    Reads a LOT like McCarthy’s HR 1022 where “Barrel Shroud” on a semi-auto long-gun could be read as ANYTHING, from the furniture on an AR, to the wood forearm on a Browning A5.



  4. More Poorly Written Bills | Weer'd World on January 31, 2013 at 4:31 am

    […] Aaron over at The Weapon Blog notes some dodgy wordy in the Feinstein “Assault Weapon” bill: […]



  5. jack on January 31, 2013 at 7:45 am

    I call BS on this. If this were really true, how come the NRA and numerous other bloggers missed it?



  6. […] Ammoland and a hat tip to Aaron who emailed me about this… Feinstein’s new gun control civilian disarmament bill bans […]



  7. Thursday News Dump | Shall Not Be Questioned on January 31, 2013 at 10:17 am

    […] What Feinstein’s failed to tell you. Her bill plausibly bans all semi-automatics because of a bug in the drafting. Or is it a feature? […]



  8. Barron Barnett on January 31, 2013 at 12:47 pm

    Jack, it isn’t bullshit, here’s the bill text. Go read page 13 for yourself.



  9. Daniel on January 31, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    After reading it I decided to post a quick Layman’s summary of the bill.

    This bill bans all semi-automatic assault weapons and magazines over 10 rounds.
    It Exempts a specific list of firearms from the above.
    It Gives the attorney general regulating powers on the remaining firearms and fees relating to them, that I don’t really understand.
    It Grandfathers all existing weapons, but bans them from transferring ownership unless they meet the new requirements.
    It Exempts current or retired ‘qualified law enforcement officers’, including ‘Campus security’

    In this Bill Semi-automatic assault weapons means…

    Any rifle with a detachable magazine, or a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.
    Anything that could accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle. I guess that takes out the bump stock.

    Any semi-auto pistol with a fixed magazine of over 10 rounds or that can accept a detachable magazine and has one of the following features.
    -threaded barrel
    -second pistol grip
    -barrel shroud
    -capacity to accept a magazine somewhere other than the pistol grip
    -a semi-automatic version of any automatic pistol

    Right here is a point of confusion. Previously it defines a pistol grip and anything that can function as a grip. So a second pistol grip could be taken to mean, the ability to grip the pistol anywhere else. You can grip most pistols in a second place, usually the front of the trigger guard or under the barrel. Arguments of functionality or ‘why’ aside, it’s possible, so it could be read to ban all pistols as well.

    All semiautomatic shotguns
    All shotguns with a revolving cylinder

    Then it gives a list of weapons that are specifically labeled as Assault weapons, even if they don’t meet the requirements above.
    AR-10 and AR-15 are on that list.

    If you made it this far, you get a reward. There is one slight oversight in the bill. It exempts “Campus Security” but defines campus security as anyone responsible for the prevention or investigation of crime involving injury to persons or property, including apprehension or detention of persons for such crimes.
    I’m responsible for the prevention of crime in my house and crimes involving injury to my person. Everyone I know is, therefore we are all exempted.

    I may have missed something, but I’m fairly sure what I did post is correct (who isn’t)



  10. Matt. P. on January 31, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    I want to agree, but I can’t. It clearly is limited to semi-automatic rifles that have a removable magazine or a fixed magazine of greater than ten rounds.
    I don’t agree with the bill, but we do not gain ground by not reading the bill carefully.



  11. […] "Clever girl…" (AKA: you sneaky BITCH!) […]



  12. Old NFO on January 31, 2013 at 5:47 pm

    Y’all missed this one… a semi-automatic version of any automatic pistol. That means Glocks are banned, since there IS a G18 that is full auto!



  13. Aaron Spuler on January 31, 2013 at 6:52 pm


  14. […] What kind of guns do you have? I have too many to list. HOWEVER: YOU NEED TO READ THIS: What Feinstein?s Failed to Tell You | The Weapon Blog __________________ ralph […]



  15. cargosquid on January 31, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    According to this text: A pistol grip (on page 2) is defined (on page 13) as “a grip, a thumb-hole stock, or any other characteristic that can function as a grip.”
    How is he wrong? If this is a qualifying condition, that covers all long guns. Everything has some sort of grip.



  16. […] Thought we’d all get distracted by the list, didn’t you? It seems Aaron over at The Weapon Blog noticed something a bit more sinister in Feinstein’s bill. […]



  17. […] an interesting read from Weapon Blog that I was emailed. If that really happens I’m not sure that the federal […]



  18. herblady60 on February 2, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    If you don’t like the bill, you can tell your congress. Go to:
    http://www.opencongress.org/bill/113-s150/show
    Under: Send you Senator a Letter (right side of page), Click on: Oppose
    Fill in your information and on the left side you will see the senators for where you live. Scroll further down and you will see a letter that has been started on the left side and you can type more, or type in your own words why you oppose this bill.
    One very good way to let your voice be heard. Let everyone know, so that they can also let their voices heard.