A ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines probably will help stop some violence but it won’t do much.
What is an assault rifle? There is no such thing although rifles that look like military weapons are commonly called assault rifles. They are really assault-style rifles made to look like military rifles but are only single-shot rifles requiring a pull of the trigger for each shot, unlike military rifles that allow automatic fire and burst fire.
There are already over 3 million assault-style rifles in the US. The previous 10-year ban on assault rifles did not have an impact on violence. Even then, it was still possible to buy and sell assault rifles already owned.
In states which currently have a high-capacity magazine ban, you can still purchase high-capacity magazines manufactured prior to 1994 of which there are millions already owned and millions more available.
Although the elementary school shooter in Newtown, Connecticut used an AR-15 assault-style rifle, he also had two handguns in his possession. With just one handgun, he could have easily inflicted the same amount of carnage.
I have seen many politicians on TV either intentionally or mistakenly referring to the ability of assault rifles to fire bullets automatically. This is absolutely incorrect. The AR-15 and other assault-style rifles are semiautomatic which requires the trigger to be pulled for each shot. Therefore, the problem is not assault-style rifles which are the same as any other semiautomatic rifle.
The difference is high capacity magazines but banning high-capacity magazines will also not stop mass violence, although it will make some people feel better and some politicians look better.
My handgun does not use a high-capacity magazine but in less than two seconds, I can change the 7-round magazine in my handgun ready to inflict more carnage, if I was mentally ill. Yesterday, a nine-year-old boy was tragically stabbed in the neck for no apparent reason by a maniac. That maniac could easily have inflicted carnage upon an entire classroom with a knife. Should knives also be banned?
This leads to my biggest complaint. While it is certainly beyond tragic, that 20 children were killed, innocent children are being killed every day in this country because of illegal handguns indiscriminately fired by teenagers upset because they thought someone disrespected them. Let’s start gun control by getting illegal handguns off the streets.
The only way that a ban on assault rifles can work is if previously existing and owned assault rifles are confiscated and all rifles and handguns are tightly controlled. Unlike other countries, this cannot be accomplished in the US because of the way this country was founded, because of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and because half the country would revolt.
Unfortunately, I can only see two solutions to the problem.
One solution I have previously mentioned to friends is the solution proposed by the NRA which includes several different options each of which would provide some type of armed protection at schools that want it. Armed guards are already used in 23,000 schools in the US. My vision appears to be identical to the NRA. I would like to see options offered to schools which would include either voluntary certification of teachers willing to carry concealed handguns just like airline pilots; paid Police Officers; and volunteer Auxiliary Police officers / Reserve Police Officers who receive the necessary training.
The other solution is one that I have long proposed. I would like to see federal registration and permits for all firearms with licensing no longer regulated by states. Some states make it too easy to obtain firearms and some states make it too difficult. I would like to see someone who passes a background check which would include a check for psychiatric history to be able to obtain a federal gun permit to possess and transport firearms including handguns and rifles anywhere in the US. I have a 24-hour carry permit for a handgun which only allows me to carry my handgun in New York. Although New York is a very difficult state to obtain a carry permit, it does not permit me to carry my handgun in other states, even those states where it is very easy to obtain a handgun permit.
Removing gun control from the states and providing federal licensing including federal laws regulating the sale of all guns will substantially reduce the hundreds of children shot every year by teenage criminals as well as reduce the possibility of another mass shooting.