One strong proponent of stricter gun laws is John J Phelan IV. In his article, "THE ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN POLITICS, THE SECOND AMENDMENT, AND THE COUNTRY‘S CONTINUED WILLINGNESS TO SACRIFICE INNOCENT LIVES FOR ‘FREEDOM,’” Phelan gives many reasons for why there should be restrictions put on assault weapons. One of his reasons is the increasing number of mass shootings. In his mind, many of these mass shootings are so severe do to the use of the assault weapon. Phelan believes that in order to lessen the violence of these attacks, we must outlaw assault rifles. Since there is a vague term for assault rifle, Phelan provides us with his definition of an assault rifle. According to Phelan, an assault rifle is a semiautomatic weapon with increased rapid fire control and a large magazine. Also, an assault weapon is a weapon with more then one military attachment (Phelan). Many of these aspects of the assault weapon are unnecessary for the average daily use for Americans, and because assault rifles provide an increased and unnecessary danger, Phelan urges us to take action to stop the use of assault weapons.
Phelan believes that in order to stop the use of assault weapons and lower the amount of mass shootings, we should bring back a revised version of The Assault Rifle Ban of 1944. Phelan is not the only one who believes we should being back The Assault Rifle Ban of 1944. Recently bills have been proposed that embody the ideas of The Assault Rifle Ban of 1944 ("Feinstein Goes For Broke With New Gun-Ban Bill"). In the Assault Weapon Ban of 1944, the number of rounds a gun could hold was limited to ten rounds. Another aspect of the ban was that all weapons with more than one military attachment were banned. A military attachment is an attachment that gives a shooter increase control while using rapid fire, such as pistol grips. Also assault rifles, which were defined as semiautomatic weapons with large magazines and increased rapid fire control, were banned (Phelan). Although according to Phelan, many of these restrictions were reasonable and necessary to protect the lives of our citizens, the ban did not last.
The ban still failed due to many loopholes, which rendered the ban ineffective. One of the loopholes was the Grandfather clause. This clause allowed guns that were made before the ban to continue circulating through the markets. Another reason the ban failed was because companies were able to make duplicates of the guns. These duplicates swapped out the illegal parts of the guns and replaced them new parts that served the same function, but were not outlawed by the ban (Phelan). Currently bills are being written that not only embody the Assault Rifle Ban of 1994, but these bills have aspects added to them in order to make them more effective ("Feinstein Goes For Broke With New Gun-Ban Bill"). Phelan believes that we need bills like these to pass in order to keep the people of our country safe.
Many people argue against gun control because they believe that the need these guns for protection. In rebuttal to that, Phelan would argue that no person would need a high powered semi-automatic weapon with more than ten rounds to defend themselves. Another weapon or firearm with less lethality is able to defend a person.
Phelan believes that in order to stop the use of assault weapons and lower the amount of mass shootings, we should bring back a revised version of The Assault Rifle Ban of 1944. Phelan is not the only one who believes we should being back The Assault Rifle Ban of 1944. Recently bills have been proposed that embody the ideas of The Assault Rifle Ban of 1944 ("Feinstein Goes For Broke With New Gun-Ban Bill"). In the Assault Weapon Ban of 1944, the number of rounds a gun could hold was limited to ten rounds. Another aspect of the ban was that all weapons with more than one military attachment were banned. A military attachment is an attachment that gives a shooter increase control while using rapid fire, such as pistol grips. Also assault rifles, which were defined as semiautomatic weapons with large magazines and increased rapid fire control, were banned (Phelan). Although according to Phelan, many of these restrictions were reasonable and necessary to protect the lives of our citizens, the ban did not last.
The ban still failed due to many loopholes, which rendered the ban ineffective. One of the loopholes was the Grandfather clause. This clause allowed guns that were made before the ban to continue circulating through the markets. Another reason the ban failed was because companies were able to make duplicates of the guns. These duplicates swapped out the illegal parts of the guns and replaced them new parts that served the same function, but were not outlawed by the ban (Phelan). Currently bills are being written that not only embody the Assault Rifle Ban of 1994, but these bills have aspects added to them in order to make them more effective ("Feinstein Goes For Broke With New Gun-Ban Bill"). Phelan believes that we need bills like these to pass in order to keep the people of our country safe.
Many people argue against gun control because they believe that the need these guns for protection. In rebuttal to that, Phelan would argue that no person would need a high powered semi-automatic weapon with more than ten rounds to defend themselves. Another weapon or firearm with less lethality is able to defend a person.