Washington bans anyone under 21 from buying assault rifles

Associated Press ^ | January 1, 2019 | Martha Bellisle

[mountn man]

The ballot initiative seeks to curb gun violence

Question: What percentage of gun crimes are committed using an "assault rifle"?

Question: What percentage of gun crimes are committed by those under 21, with an "assault rifle"?

Question: What part of "shall not be infringed" do they not understand?

[coloradan]

That the term “assault rifle” refers to a select-fire weapon has been pointed out many times over the last 10-20 years; that the author still uses the term to refer to semi-automatic firearms shows the deep and willful ignorance, if not contempt, of the subject matter.

[Bonemaker]

“...Starting today, young adults between the ages of 18 to 20 will have their rights to purchase semi-automatic rifles stripped away..”

I’m sure 18-20 year old US Marines home on leave will appreciate the gratitude shown them by Washington State.

[Bonemaker]

“...Kristen Ellingboe, a spokeswoman for the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, ..”

The “Alliahce” being located on her kitchen table.

[48th SPS Crusader]

assault rifle? WTH is that?
Every rifle is an assault rifle IF it is used to assault someone!
No rifle is an assault rifle IF it is not used to assault anyone!
Assault is an act not an object!

[Little Ray]

You can’t buy assault rifles anyway. Not new ones. And not without a BATFE tax stamp.
Assault rifles are selective fire weapons.
So the media is trying to manipulate the ignorant again.

[ThunderSleeps]

The ballot initiative seeks to curb gun violence by toughening background checks for people buying assault rifles, increasing the age limit to buy those firearms and requiring the safe storage of all guns.

Did any one stop and consider that rifles are used in a very small percentage of crimes involving shooting deaths? Something on the order of 2% to 3%? So-called "assault rifles" are used in only a small fraction of those.

In particular, in the State of Washington, rifles (any kind of rifle) was used in just 8%. The site I got this from doesn't even bother to list if *any* of those involved so-called "assault rifles." Since the site is attempting to make a case against "assault rifles" I would expect they would proclaim the deaths - if there were any. So I suspect the actual number of deaths from "assault rifles" in Washington in 2016 was 0. Oh, and that 8% is far less than the 54% of deadly crimes committed with handguns, or the 15% committed with sharp objects, and equal to the 8% committed with body parts (ie. beating to death).

So you have to ask yourself, why are politicians and so-called "leaders" spending, nay, wasting so much time and effort banning and restricting "assault rifles" when they are demonstrably not a threat? And I mean, not a threat. You are 85 times more likely to die from Iron deficiency anemia than you are from an "assault rifle." How many people out there are clamoring for legislation to ensure we eat our veggies?

The reason "assault rifles" are being targeted (literally) is because they are a target of opportunity. They look scary. The pro-disarmament types (ie. would-be tyrants and fascists) can make a convincing sounding case against anyone "needing" them. They are an obvious stepping stone. Because restricting or banning them will make absolutely no difference in gun related violence. Their use is less than a statistical blip compared to other issues. Their plan is plainly to go after "assault rifles" in an emotional push to "do something!" When that (predictably) has no effect they'll push for additional restrictions on our rights and liberties.

This is incrementalism pure and simple. There is absolutely no defensible, rational reason to be banning/restricting "assault rifles" in the name of public safety. It is all about the long game.

[Svartalfiar]

That's far enough -- writer disqualified. By definition assault rifles are fully automatic. --z

That the term “assault rifle” refers to a select-fire weapon has been pointed out many times over the last 10-20 years; that the author still uses the term to refer to semi-automatic firearms shows the deep and willful ignorance, if not contempt, of the subject matter. --c

As far as I know, no one can buy an “assault rifle” without a BATF tax stamp. An “assault rifle” has a selector switch with full Auto setting. --ba

But are they? On a Federal level, there is no definition of assault rifle. On a Texas level, there is no definition of assault rifle. In the military, there is no assault rifle. And WA doesn't really define assault rifle, but they certainly added a definition of 'semiautomatic assault rifle':

Sec. 16. RCW 9.41.010 and 2018 c 7 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(18) "Machine gun" means any firearm known as a machine gun, mechanical rifle, submachine gun, or any other mechanism or instrument not requiring that the trigger be pressed for each shot and having a reservoir clip, disc, drum, belt, or other separable mechanical device for storing, carrying, or supplying ammunition which can be loaded into the firearm, mechanism, or instrument, and fired therefrom at the rate of five or more shots per second.
(22) "Rifle" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.
(25) "Semiautomatic assault rifle" means any rifle which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge. "Semiautomatic assault rifle" does not include antique firearms, any firearm that has been made permanently inoperable, or any firearm that is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action.

So actually, for Washington, the closest (and really only) thing in law that can be referred to as an 'assault rifle', is specifically NOT AUTOMATIC, actually.

[Svartalfiar]

So how is “assault rifle” defined? We all know that they are primarily targeting the AR-15 yet it has never been used in combat so it cannot possibly be called an assault rifle.


See my post #28 above for the longer version, but here's the short one:
(25) "Semiautomatic assault rifle" means any rifle which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.

[Svartalfiar]

You can’t buy assault rifles anyway. Not new ones. And not without a BATFE tax stamp.
Assault rifles are selective fire weapons.
So the media is trying to manipulate the ignorant again.

Read my post #28. The media isn't manipulating anything here, they're just going off of their usual lack of knowledge of the subject matter. By definition, assault rifles in WA are NOT automatic. That would then be defined as a 'machine gun'.

[Vaduz]

Burning question when did illegals start buying guns?.

[Big Red Badger]

Why it’s not good to visit Washington
,,,
See Above.

[MayflowerMadam]

I assume this is Washington State? So there’s a city/town in WA whose mayor has deemed a sanctuary city for guns to conform with the Second Amendment. The 21-year-olds can go there and buy their guns.

If cities and states can decree sanctuary to allow illegal activity, then certainly a city following the Constitution should be no problem.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The left cleverly uses the term “assault rifles”. And some are stupid enough to think passing a law will stop 19-year old criminals from obtaining them, while the remaining supporters are just gun-grabbing fascists.

[IronJack]

Define “assault rifle.”

[Clutch Martin]

“...wouldn’t have a problem with this if they made 21 the mythical age for everything (buying booze, drinking, smokes, voting, getting loans/credit cards, etc).”

Don’t forget military service. That was always the wedge, at least I think it was. If they’re old enough to serve in America’s Armed Forces they’re old enough to... (See the list above).

Personally, from what I’ve seen, with exception to the military, I think 25 would to be a suitable minimum age. I call it “maturity creep” - as society spirals down the black hole of the common sense, the age for responsibility should be increased.

But! That would only be attacking a symptom and not the disease. The disease resides in the media and that media projects negativity that the young people in our country pick up on as the norm. And they act out accordingly to these perceived norms that the media has created. That is the root cause of all the crap that we are seeing around us in these complex in modern times.

I was a Communications professional for many years in an operational setting. I figured out a long time ago that if you look back in the history of society in this country and in especially in the 20th century it’s easy to note that when a radio and cinema started proliferating across the continent and globally is when we started seeing changes exponentially deviate from classic, normal civilized behavior.

Of course, there are exceptions... But I heard a preacher a long time ago indicate that a hundred years or so in the past young men would do everything they could to emulate their father’s example. They dress like their fathers, they carry themselves like their fathers, they dealt with their labor and their businesses as their fathers. So when did the current trend of acting out against your parents actually start taking place? I think it was with the technologies of radio and movies and it has carried forth ever since. Society no longer likes or wants to be like their parents they want to be totally and radically different.

[Rinnwald]

How many assault weapons (real ones, or even AK 47’s) have been used in crimes in Washington State, esp. mass murders?

The state rode the 2018 Mukilteo shooting hard and put it away wet. Some 18 year old nutcase bought an AR-15, shot his ex-girlfriend and three other people. Parents of the deceased kids pushed this initiative.

And yes, shootings with rifles are rare, but the lefties had their bloody shirt and ran with it.

[Rinnwald]

Sorry, that’s 2016.

[Little Ray]

Assault rifles are selective fire weapons by definition, no matter how ignorant the state government is.
If the rifle does not a burst fire or automatic fire mode, it is not an assault rifle; it is a plain old self-loading rifle, no matter how it is styled.

[NFHale]

“...Well there’s not a single criminal out there that’s going to comply....”

Not a single CITIZEN should either.