In the wake of the Valentine's Day mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, Democratic lawmakers have introduced a proposed assault weapons ban. If the proposed legislation becomes law, it would render the use and ownership of assault weapons in the United States illegal.

The assault weapon used in the Parkland massacre, the AR-15, was included in the gun ban proposed by lawmakers last Monday. However, gun rights proponents claim that the AR-15 is not a fully automatic assault weapon. Therefore, they do not believe it should be included in the list of banned weapons.

The new law would render it "unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a semiautomatic assault weapon." The law would also require the justice department to make public a listing of every assault weapon ever used to commit a crime.

For those who currently possess semiautomatic assault weapons, they may be in luck as they'll be grandfathered into a program of exemption. The new law would only prohibit the new purchase of such firearms.

Lawmakers disagree about whether to pass the new legislation. Democrats overwhelmingly want the proposed law to go into effect while Republicans are against it.

The fate of this legislation will be important to watch – especially for anyone who hopes to buy a semiautomatic assault weapon in the future. As long as a gun owner knows and follows weapons laws, he or she shouldn't have any trouble with the law. Nevertheless, inappropriate arrests and charges can happen. As such, accused individuals will have the ability to defend themselves against the allegations in a court of proper jurisdiction.

Source: Delaware Online, "Banning so-called "assault weapons" won't stop violence," Thomas D. Shelleberger, March 01, 2018