Mitch Perry
Keeping a promise he made to the brother of a student killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch introduced legislation to create the Assault Weapons Ban of 2018.
Filing the bill Monday, Deutch, a Boca Raton Democrat, was joined by David Cicilline of Rhode Island and 153 other Democrats.
On Valentine’s Day, a troubled teen gunman using an AR-15 assault rifle killed 14 students and three teachers at the school in the community of Parkland, located in Deutch’s Broward County district.
“Americans don’t own tanks or missiles; so why should our streets be flooded with weapons of war made for the sole purpose of killing people? The Stoneman Douglas community is still reeling from this awful tragedy. But they want and deserve action from Congress,” Deutch said Monday.
“Banning assault weapons isn’t a Democratic idea, nor is it new; President [Ronald] Reagan supported the initial ban, which expired in 2004,” he continued. “Most Americans support the assault weapons ban. Now it’s time for Congress to listen and pass sensible legislation to get these weapons of war off our streets.”
The legislation seeks to prohibit the sale, transfer, production, and import of semi-automatic rifles and handguns with a military-style feature that can accept a detachable magazine; semi-automatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds; semi-automatic shotguns with a military-style features; any ammunition feeding device that can hold more than 10 rounds, and 205 specifically named and listed firearms.
“Assault weapons were made for one purpose. They are designed to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time. They do not belong in our communities,” Cicilline said. “I am proud to introduce the Assault Weapons Ban with the support of leaders in law enforcement. It’s on all of us to end this carnage.”
Deutch previewed the legislation during a town hall meeting last week in Broward County that aired on CNN. At that time, the congressman promised Ryan Schachter, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School whose 14-year-old brother, Alex, died in the attack, he would file the bill this week.
“We’re going to introduce legislation to make sure that assault weapons are illegal in every part of this country,” Deutch said to applause from the crowd of 7,000 gathered at the BB&T Center in Sunrise.
In a USA Today poll released over the weekend, 63 percent of respondents believe weapons like the AR-15 should be banned. The poll did not indicate if those surveyed support a full ban on all semi-automatic weapons.
4 comments
TangoMike
February 26, 2018 at 6:15 pm
This will never pass, its too broad and, lets be real, these never pass.
DAVID EDWARD BRUDERLY
February 27, 2018 at 1:29 am
I call on North Florida Republican US Representatives Rutherford, Yoho and DeSantis to sign on as co-sponsors to this rational legislation and denounce the fear-mongering of the gun industry lobby — the NRA.
DD
February 27, 2018 at 10:36 am
Stupidest thing I ever heard of! How the hell do you keep your job? There is s problem already. Mental health. Why create another problem? Something definitely needs to be done but this knee jerk reaction is not even close!
Trey Rash
March 4, 2018 at 11:17 pm
Remember the Las Vegas shooter? He was a regular person with no past history of anything related to mental illness. SO, it’s NOT just mental illness, it’s the damn guns. There was a ban. Ronald Reagan SUPPORTED the ban. When there was an assault weapons ban, these kinds of shootings dropped. When the ban was allowed to expire by the Republicans, surprise, surprise, these kinds of mass shootings starting increasing again. So, it’s not mental illness as the main cause – it’s the kinds of guns that causes these kinds of mass murders.
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