Gun Controllers In Oregon, Washington Push West Coast ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban

Gun control groups in Oregon and Washington state are pushing for gun laws similar to those in California, which would ban “assault weapons” from the West Coast.

The gun control proponents are operating under the banner of Washington Ceasefire and Oregon Ceasefire, but are actually “a coalition of groups and lawmakers.”

According to KUOW, Washington Ceasefire’s Ralph Fascitelli cited illegal uses of “assault weapons” in Orlando, San Bernardino, Dallas, and Roseburg, Ore., as justification for pursing the ban. He said, “We’re just seeing one shooting after another and the carnage higher. You know, enough is enough. What do we do, just lie down and accept it and put our head in the sand like ostriches? Or do we fight back?”

Washington Ceasefire and Oregon Ceasefire are also pushing for a ban on magazines larger than 10-rounds.

On July 1 California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed an expansion of his state’s “assault weapons” ban and also signed a ban on any magazines larger than 10 rounds.

It is interesting to note that “assault weapons” are not a weapon of choice for criminals. In fact, they are so far down the list of weapons of choice that FBI crime numbers show over two times more people are beaten to death annually than are killed with rifles of any kind. It is also interesting to note that capacity bans on magazines do not hinder criminals. Elliot Rodger–the gunman in the May 23, 2014 Santa Barbara attack–only used 10-round magazines during his shooting spree.

Seung-Hui Cho did use “high capacity” magazines when he killed 32 at Virginia Tech in 2007. But a Virginia Tech review panel found that a ban on such magazines “would have not made that much difference in the incident.” The reason smaller magazines would not have mattered is because the shooting took place in a gun-free zone, like the Orlando, San Bernardino, and Roseburg attacks. And in a gun-free zone, the gunman can shoot then reload at this leisure.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.