Fail: Rhode Island Dems Pass a Useless 'Assault Weapons' Ban

Too many politicians, especially on the left, are prone to following a rather senseless algorithm when it comes to policy issues. Their thought process, especially after a high-profile event, follows this path:

(Event) We have to do something! This is something. Let's do this!

Nowhere is this stark idiocy more prevalent than in "assault weapons" bans, when once more, politicians who know nothing about firearms write firearms legislation based on emotions and ignorance rather than facts. The latest culprits? Rhode Island.

Rhode Island's Democratic-controlled state House on Friday approved legislation that would ban the sale and manufacturing of many semiautomatic rifles commonly referred to as assault weapons.
The proposal now heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Dan McKee, who has said he supports assault weapons bans. If the bill is signed into law, Rhode Island will join 10 states that have some sort of prohibition on high-powered firearms that were once banned nationwide and are now largely the weapon of choice among those responsible for most of the country's devastating mass shootings.
Gun control advocates have been pushing for an assault weapons ban in Rhode Island for more than a decade. However, despite being a Democratic stronghold, lawmakers throughout the country's smallest state have long quibbled over the necessity and legality of such proposals.

Here's what this reporting gets wrong:

...states that have some sort of prohibition on high-powered firearms that were once banned nationwide...

These are not high-powered firearms. The round most commonly used in the AR-15 pattern rifles, the 5.56mm NATO, has as its civilian counterpart the .223 Remington, a .22 caliber cartridge considered a good round for prairie dogs, woodchucks, foxes, and coyotes. Its use for hunting animals like deer is proscribed in many states because it's not considered powerful enough to ensure a clean, humane kill. The Russian 7.62x39mm round used in the AK-series weapons is more or less the equivalent of the modest .30-30.

These are facts.

As for "once banned nationwide," none of these rifles were ever banned nationwide. Not for a few years, not for a few days, not for a few minutes. Certain cosmetic features were banned, like separate pistol grips, flash hiders (flash hiders actually do have some effect, but not what the gun-banners think they do), and bayonet lugs. That's right, bayonet lugs were banned by the 1994 "assault weapons" ban, presumably to deal with the outbreak of criminals robbing good citizens at bayonet-point. Yes, that is sarcasm. The AR-15 and AK pattern rifles were manufactured throughout the ban, functionally unchanged, minus those cosmetic features.

As far as the state's lawmakers quibbling, the quibblers are quite correct; these laws are not necessary and are unconstitutional.

This Is Why 'Assault Weapons' Laws Are Stupid - The People Who Write Them Know Nothing About Guns

One of the usual suspects on the left appeared to criticize the bill as not onerous enough:

It wasn't just Republicans who opposed the legislation. David Hogg — a gun control advocate who survived the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida — and the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence described the proposed ban as the "weakest assault weapons ban in the country."

Yes, the same David Hogg who was just unceremoniously shown the door by the Democratic National Committee, once more freely expounding on a topic he knows nothing about.

Rhode Island's legislature is wasting their time and their constituents' money with this outpouring of road apples, and should be voted out of office for wasting resources. Unfortunately, even if their ban is overturned on constitutional grounds, as it should be, they'll no doubt immediately start looking for a way to try once more to blame the tool for the hand that wields it.

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