Components of the AWB

I put together a little post about the items that are in Senator Feinstein's proposed 2013 Assault Weapon Ban.  What follows is a picture of it available from a popular retailer (where available) and a description of the item.  The pictures do not show the item attached to a weapon.  There are plenty of those pictures all over the internet.  I think that causes confusion and I would like you to judge the item on its own without the firearm that it is associated with.  If you have a friend on the internet who is either for or against gun control, you have seen one already anyway.  Please keep in mind that if a firearm has ANY ONE of these features, it becomes and assault weapon.

Pistol Grip - http://cdn1.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd_images/bgprod/2-MFTEPGI47FDE.jpg

It is a piece of plastic/rubber. It is in the shape of a pistol (hence the name).  You hold it.  If someone can explain to me how you can kill more people by twisting your wrist 15 degrees instead of 45 degrees, I will ban the things in a heartbeat.  It is an ergonomic feature.  It made the weapons more comfortable to use.  For service men and women who had to hold their weapons for 12+ hours it is a great innovation.  Aurora boy and the Newton asshat were not going to get a cramp and stop shooting.

Forward Grip - http://cdn1.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd_images/bgprod/3-1029180_A.jpg

Pretty much the same as above, only your wrist is twisted 0 degrees instead of 90 when holding the gun by the barrel shroud.  Speaking of which...

Barrel Shroud - http://cdn1.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd_images/bgprod/9-89137.jpg

This is where you hold the front of the gun.  Some of them have mounting points that you can mount things like the "forward grip" mentioned above.  It keeps you from burning your hands on the barrel.  Something similar is on every single rifle in existence.  It is just usually made of wood and doesn't surround the barrel.  Most upgraded versions include a rail system that you can use to mount things like scopes and other sighting equipment.  Most firearms are capable of having accessories added to them.

Folding, Telescoping, or Detachable Stock - http://cdn1.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd_images/bgprod/6-1021494.jpg, http://cdn1.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd_images/bgprod/ARR-852.jpg,

Folding

Telescoping (Collapsible)

Detachable
???

It is a piece of plastic that you rest against your shoulder when firing your weapon.  Collapsible/telescoping means you can adjust the length to fit the person using the weapon.  A 14 year old who is using a shotgun for small game hunting does not have the same length arms as an 18 year old.  Women do not tend to have the same arm length as men.  It is to allow the weapon to be adjusted to fit the shooter.  The folding stock folds at a pivot point that you can see in the above image.  I will concede that the folding stock can be used to make a weapon shorter and therefore make it more concealable, but the weapons used in these shootings were not concealed.  They were out in the open from the start.  No concealment attempts were made.  The detachable stock escapes me.  I guess you can remove the stock completely, but you can do the same thing with a hack saw on a wooden stock.  So I am not sure what they mean here.

Grenade Launcher or Rocket Launcher - http://www.kiesler.com/shop/ProductImages/M203_2.jpg

Grenade Launcher

Rocket Launcher
???

I could only find a picture of a grenade launcher.  I tried really hard to find an image of a gun mounted rocket launcher, but strangely, I cannot find a picture of an item that you hold IN FRONT OF YOU and throws FLAMES OUT OF THE BACK of it that you would then attach to your gun.  I am pretty sure that the flames from the rocket would generate enough heat to melt most of the above equipment and likely set off the rounds held in the magazine sitting directly behind where it would attach to the gun.  Oh yeah, it would also likely set you on fire.

It should be noted that just like all other class 3 weapons, (Fully automatic weapons such as M-16s, AK-47 [full auto version, not semi-automatics], Tommy guns and my personal favorite, the Dillon minigun) these are HIGHLY regulated and very EXPENSIVE.  You can only buy them if they were manufactured PRIOR to 1984 and you cannot purchase one without undergoing a background check with the BATFE (aka ATF), fingerprints taken by local law enforcement, approval of local law enforcement and $200 for the transfer from he previous owner.  This usually requires a 2 - 6 month wait for the paperwork to clear the BATFE process.  On top of that, if you want the high explosive rounds, you again have to deal with theB ATFE and get certified in handling explosives.  It should be said that I have used one with practice rounds (chalk filled rounds) and I am a FRIGHTENINGLY good shot with them.  Way better than I am with the actual rifle.  Suffice it to say, they are already way more illegal than they would be under this ban.  Note that not a single mass shooting has used a grenade/rocket launcher.

Threaded Barrel - http://cdn1.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd_images/bgprod/GNS-161.jpg

Sorry.  This is actually a pistol barrel, but I couldn't find any good images of a rifle barrel.  Just imagine it is about 4 times longer.  Threaded barrels are regular barrels with threads cut onto the end of them like you would find on a a standard bolt that you can buy at The Home Depot.  They are there to screw on compensators, flash hiders and silencers.  Compensators redirect some of the gasses produced by the gun powder in the combustion chamber to help keep your gun from creeping upward while firing it.  The flash hider helps block some of the light from the burning powder from appearing above the barrel so it doesn't block your view.  Everyone thinks they know what a silencer is.  It's not what you think.  On a weapon other than a .22 it does not make the firearm whisper quiet.  It makes it so you can shoot without hearing protection.  That's it.  Shooting a gun in a closed environment, like your home, can permanently damage your hearing.

So to sum up,

Grips - comfort/control
Collapsible stock - comfort/adjustment for different size shooters
Barrel shroud - keeps you from burning your support hand
Threaded barrel - attachments
Grenade Launcher - Already heavily regulated/registered/restricted/expensive

I would like to also note that these weapons are modular.  You can buy a weapon that is perfectly legal and buy ALL of these items LEGALLY in the aftermarket and attach them to your gun.  No legislation has been put forward to ban the manufacture and sale of these items.  Just selling them when pre-installed on a firearm would be illegal.  Of course it would be illegal to be CAUGHT with a weapon configured this way, if the authorities could prove the weapon was modified after the ban was put in place.  Of course, I don't have to tell you how criminals and the mentally unbalanced feel about obeying the law...

High Capacity Magazines - http://cdn1.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd_images/bgprod/MAG-056.jpg

I chose the grand-poo bah of high capacity for the picture.  The 100 round C-Mag Beta magazine.  A lot of emphasis has been put on the 30 and 100 round magazines available for firearms.  This part of the post is specifically aimed toward the AR-15/AK-47 pattern weapons, but applies to handguns too.  For most handguns, the standard capacity, with a few exceptions, is around 15 rounds which is more than the 10 allowed.  Take the legal 10 round magazine (that in NY you can only out 7 rounds in).  Do me a favor and count to 5.  1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi, 4 Missisissippi, 5 Mississippi.  Did you have time to recognize that the shooter was out of ammunition, move from behind cover that I am hoping you were hiding behind while they were shooting and subdue the attacker?  No?  Neither does anyone else.  The difference between a 10 round magazine and a 30 round magazine aggregate for an UNTRAINED person such as myself?  2 x 5 seconds or 10 seconds.  For someone who actually practices?  2 x 2 seconds or 4 seconds.  For the 100 round magazine pictured above?  18 and 45seconds respectively.  If you are thinking you are going to take out a shooter in the 2 - 5 seconds it takes him to change magazines you are a fool.  There is a reason why there is the old saying, "Don't bring a knife to a gun fight."  Hell, you probably don't even have a knife since most security policies don't allow you to carry a knife either.

Ammunition

The guy in Aurora had 6000 rounds of ammunition.  Holy shit, that's insane!  Actually, it's not.  When I go to the range, I will go through 200 - 300 rounds in a normal day.  That would be 20 - 30 trips to the range.  But then there are times when, in the course of a weekend, I can go through 500 - 600 rounds depending on the weather and the company.  And I am not a heavy shooter.  But here is the best part.  People say he had 6000 rounds like he took it all with him.  Unless he had a wagon or wheel-barrow he was not carrying 6000 rounds of ammunition with him.  1000 rounds of .233 weighs roughly 28lbs.  6 x 28 = 168 pounds.  Good luck with that.

Ammunition does not go bad.  The people, like myself, who are going to use it anyways stock up because buying in bulk SAVES MONEY and shooting is pretty damn expensive.  You go to Costco and stock up on TP?  I do the same thing with ammunition.  I currently have over 1200 rounds of .223, 500 rounds of 357 Magnum, 1000 rounds of 357 sig (sadly this is one of the least expensive handgun rounds available when it would be one of the more expensive under normal circumstances) and about 300 rounds of .40.  That is roughly 3000 rounds of ammunition.  I'm not going to be shooting up a school or a mall or a college campus.  Having more than 50 rounds of ammunition does not make me a killer.

What to do

I am not saying that legislation is off the table.  I am not advocating for the status quo.  I just don't believe that making roughly 80 million American citizens, who have done nothing wrong, criminals.  There are things that can totally be implemented that I would support.  I have zero problems with improving the background check system.  Most states do not report criminals or people adjudicated mentally unfit to own a firearm to the federal NICS system.  Improving compliance in this area might have stopped Aurora boy from getting his weapons.  They would not have stopped the Newtown asshat since he got his by taking his mom's legally owned firearm and shooting her in the face with it so he could take the rest.  I stop short of registration.  They are different.  For me the 4th amendment comes into play here.  Having a database of all of the firearms that I have is not necessary to determine if I should get to purchase a new firearm, and as we have seen, some people would publish that information of they could get a hold of it, making law-abiding citizens targets of crime.  I have no problem with prosecuting straw purchasers.  I have no problem with prosecuting people who attempt to purchase firearms who fail the background check.  Most of these are already law, but not enforced or are underfunded.  I also support getting people who would be disqualified from owning a firearm due to being adjudicated mentally unfit treatment.  I would much rather pay to prevent them from committing a crime than pay to incarcerate them after the fact.  And since one of the primary motivators for gun violence, outside of being bat-shit insane is the violence fostered by the drug trade, let's work on legalizing some of that stuff.

Feel free to comment below.  If it doesn't make sense to you why I think this would be utterly and completely ineffective, I will be happy to provide alternate examples or whatever else is necessary if you are truly interested.

Hopefully Some Useful Discussion to Avoid Tragedy

I'm kind of tired of posting the same thing on Facebook over and over.  So I am going to say them here and link back if I feel it's necessary.  This is not going to be complete.  It would be so long, nobody would read it.  It is more of a jumping off point.  If you want to discuss further, then by all means, comment below.  If you don't, well don't.  I only ask that if you do, you keep it civil.  On an issue like this, at a time like this, emotions can run high.  Everyone feels like the other side doesn't get it.  Everyone needs to remember that the person on the other side of the discussion is not evil.  They are just trying to do what they think is right.  They are approaching it from a different viewpoint based on their beliefs and their personal experiences, not from a position of malice.  OK, disclaimer out of the way, so let's get to it.

I think there is some sort of misconception.  It seems that there are folks out there who think that people like myself, who enjoy shooting guns for fun, are looking to remove all gun restrictions and are hoping that one day we will get called upon to fend off an army of criminals so we can straight up murder people's asses.

I have zero interest in actually shooting someone.  I like to shoot.  I have a concealed carry permit.  I don't carry, but I have one for practical purposes.  I like shooting different guns and different calibers.  I am OK with preventing individuals who have a reasonable chance of harming someone from owning a gun.  I have started teaching my kids how to shoot a BB gun.  I want them to understand guns.  To understand their inherent dangers and how to properly be around and handle guns.  How to treat a gun, especially an unfamiliar one.  To learn good habits at a relatively young age so they take hold and become habit.  I am willing to discuss "real" gun control as long as your definition of "real" is not solely comprised of the outright ban of guns.  What I am not willing to do is tolerate people who have never fired a gun, have no understanding of how firearms work, the differences in the various calibers or the actual ballistics involved in a bullet impacting a target trying to tell me what type of gun is "legitimate" for a civilian to own.

People who do not understand that a .223 round fired from a bolt action "hunting rifle" (H/R) and a semi-automatic "assault rifle" (A/R) have the same terminal ballistics, lecturing me on what gun is appropriate or inappropriate to have, angers me.  People who don't understand that a pistol grip, a collapsible stock, a heat shield, a bayonet lug or accessory rails do not make an A/R do more damage than a similarly chambered H/R lecturing me on what my gun should look like irritate me.  Do they enhance the overall effectiveness of a weapon?  Of course they do.  Otherwise the military would not issue them, but they are more about ergonomics for the soldier than making it deadlier.  If I hand you 100 rounds of .223 and have you shoot them from a H/R and hand you another 100 rounds and shoot them from a A/R you will find that the A/R does not kill at a statistically significant higher ratio than a H/R using the same ammunition.

Now, if you want to talk about a semi-automatic action being unnecessary?  Bring it.  You want to talk about limiting the capacity of magazines?  I would love to have that conversation as well.  Talk about the ineffectiveness of the mental health portion of the background checks?  Great topic that is finally getting some notice.  The ability to buy a firearm at a gun show without a background check?  Happy to oblige. Talk about the possibility that the people who commit acts like mass shootings only do it to become famous (or infamous)?  Just because Morgan Freeman didn't actually say it doesn't make it any less valid.  Let's talk about things that might make an actual difference instead of banning weapons because of a knee-jerk reaction to cosmetic crap.

Now that I have said my peace, feel free to say yours.