Washington state senator David Frockt (D-Seattle) and representative Strom Peterson (D-Edmonds) are pushing bans that will outlaw many of the most popular semiautomatic rifles and pistols in their state.
The bans are ubiquitously aimed at law-abiding “assault weapon” and “high capacity magazine” owners and also criminalize numerous semiautomatic pistol owners along the way. They do this by making the age old Democrat mistake of banning guns in light of cosmetic features, such a flash hider, a thumb hole stock, a collapsible stock, or a threaded barrel, as if any of these features make a round fly faster and alter the basic operation of the weapon.
By focusing on these things, Frockt and Peterson paint with a wide brush, expanding the “assault weapons” moniker to outlaw a plethora of weapons.
For example, Frockt’s bill clearly bans any “semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine” and also has a “threaded barrel.”
Quick question: How many crime scene photos have you seen where a pistol with a threaded barrel was used? My answer: None. But Frockt’s bill goes after law-abiding citizens who possess them any way, as if having a threaded barrel inclines one to crime.
As bad as this all sounds, it could be even worse if passed, because the bill is written in a way that could open it to broad interpretation. Those of you who own a semiautomatic pistol understand that the barrel on the vast majority of them is not just removable, but quickly removable. Therefore, if you have a threaded barrel you could switch it out for a non-threaded barrel in a snap and avoid the ban. However, if Democrats are interpreting the law, it could be that your pistol must be banned because it has the capability of accepting a threaded barrel.
See how this works? It really is a slippery slope that really does lead to a freedom-crushing slide toward tyranny.
By the way, Frockt’s bill goes after semiautomatic shotguns, too.
The NRA-ILA addressed the bills being pushed by Frockt and Peterson, saying:
These bills have less to do with “meaningful reforms” for public safety and reducing crime (other than the newly defined crimes of being gun owners) than they do with moving the incremental process of stigmatizing guns and eliminating firearm possession by law-abiding citizens another giant step forward in Washington State.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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