Abstract
As of this writing, the Federal bill HR-1022 is still in the house Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security and proposes to ban certain classes of firearms based on cosmetic and ergonomic features.This paper will show that these bills are essentially spurious in nature, attempting to ban groups of firearms on the grounds that they are possessing of certain aesthetic features, and not that they are actually more dangerous than any other types of firearms currently available on the civilian market.
However, this paper will not attempt to ascertain whether this deceit is due to malice, conspiracy or simply ignorance. Furthermore, it will not raise the issue of the constitutionality of such bans, but rather will limit the discussion to the "dangerous" features which they propose make these firearms more deadly and therefore are cause for them to be banned.
Background and Introduction
My Squirrel Gun
The .22 Long Rifle cartridge (often called simply .22LR), is generally regarded as a fine all around plinking and small game hunting round and is one of the most produced cartridges in the world.
The Ruger 10/22 is a .22 Long Rifle caliber semiautomatic rifle which feeds from a 10 round detachable box magazine. My particular one is a stainless model with an 18 inch barrel. When it comes from the factory, it looks like this:
This looks like fairly commonplace, average rifle, doesn't it?
The real "gun" part of the rifle is this part, often referred to as the "barreled action". This is what remains when you remove the stock.
The squarish cutout is where the magazine sits. The magazine looks like this:
The above is a 10 round (shot) magazine. There are higher capacity magazines available, typically in 20, 25, 30 and 50 rounds.
Ergonomics
If one were to take the barreled action, above, and insert it into a different stock, one would be left with something like this:
Now, the question becomes: has the rifle changed substantially? To the astute observer, it has not. We have merely replaced one stock with another, the new stock having slightly different ergonomics than the first. The barrel length, ammunition capacity and method of operation remain unchanged. The gun is just as deadly as it was before. The following two photographs illustrate those ergonomic differences:
Notice a difference? Aside from the angle of my wrist, there isn't one. The gun is still the same, I just hold it a little differently.
The Law and Ergonomics
Now, what does the law have to say about ergonomics?
`(D) A semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine, and that has--
...
`(iii) a pistol grip;
Conclusion: Possessing of both a detachable magazine and this ergonomic feature makes this gun illegal. In other words, the rifle without the pistol grip is fine, but once you add the pistol grip, it makes it an illegal "assault weapon".
Convinced that this is legislation which bears further examination? Read on.
Rifles
Here we will discuss the law as pertains it to rifles, and will then discuss each banned feature in turn.The Law
HR 1022 states:
`(D) A semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine, and that has--
`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
`(ii) a threaded barrel;
`(iii) a pistol grip;
`(iv) a forward grip; or
`(v) a barrel shroud.
Folding Or Telescoping Stocks
There are a couple of things all grouped together here.- Folding stocks Folding stocks don't really do anything particularly useful, except that the allow those of us with compact cars to fit rifles in the trunk - that way, they're not in the passenger compartment, which is generally frowned upon by agents of the law (though is not illegal as long as they are in a locked case). However, they don't do anything particularly bad either - once again, the rifle is not made more deadly by the fact that it can fold up nicely.
- Telescoping stocks These are also known as "adjustable", or sometimes named for the number of positions to which they can be adjusted ("6 position stocks", "5 position stocks"), etc., and this name more accurately conveys their meaning. The point of these is that they adjust to the right length for the shooter, making it a more comfortable to shoot. This is why they're popular with the military - they can buy one rifle and each soldier can adjust it to the right length for him or her. The rifle is not made more deadly in any way - it is just more comfortable to shoot.
A Threaded Barrel
This item is interesting since the real use of a threaded barrel is to attach a silencer, which is not illegal. So, the idea here is to make something necessary for using a silencer illegal. So, silencers would still be legal, but there would be no way to attach them to the gun, since the threaded barrels are illegal. This represents an end-run around existing laws; making something effectively impossible to have, but not illegal.Forward Grips
A forward grip is defined as follows:`(41) Forward Grip- The term `forward grip' means a grip located forward of the trigger that functions as a pistol grip.This is merely a second pistol grip towards the front of the rifle. Many folks find this a lot more comfortable than having to turn your hand palm up. As such, there is similar advantage to it as there is to the pistol grip. Just like the other items discussed, this does not affect the lethality of the rifle in any way.
A Barrel Shroud
Barrel shrouds are defined as follows:`(36) Barrel Shroud- The term `barrel shroud' means a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel of a firearm so that the shroud protects the user of the firearm from heat generated by the barrel, but does not include a slide that encloses the barrel, and does not include an extension of the stock along the bottom of the barrel which does not encircle or substantially encircle the barrel.Notice the key phrase here - protects the user of the firearm from heat generated by the barrel. This is a safety feature. It stops you from being burned. Allow me to illustrate what the barrel shroud is:
The left picture is the barrel shroud next to the barrel, which is legal under this proposed legislation. The one on the right is the barrel shroud attached to the barrel, which would make this a banned rifle under this proposed legislation. As mentioned before, all this does is let me hold the rifle without running the risk of burning myself on a hot barrel.
Furthermore, it probably bears mentioning that Rep. McCarthy, who introduced HR 1022, revealed in an interview that she does not even know what a barrel shroud is. She is introducing legislation which she does not even know what it does. It's not like it's a long bill - the printout on my computer is only seven pages.
Pistols
Here we will discuss the law as it pertains to pistols, and will then discuss each banned feature in turn.The Law
HR 1022 states:
`(F) A semiautomatic pistol that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine, and has--
`(i) a second pistol grip;
`(ii) a threaded barrel;
`(iii) a barrel shroud; or
`(iv) the capacity to accept a detachable magazine at a location outside of the pistol grip.
A Second Pistol Grip
This is similar to the "forward grip" section for rifles, and basically bans a second grip, which allows one to better keep the pistol on target. It does not affect the velocity of the bullets fired in any way.A Threaded Barrel
Just like the "a threaded barrel" section in rifles, this bans a feature on pistols which is needed to use a silencer, which is not illegal. The presence of threads on the barrel does not affect the lethality of the pistol at all.A Barrel Shroud
This is just like the "barrel shroud" section for rifles - they are banning a safety feature which prevents one from being burned.The Capacity to Accept a Magazine at a Location Outside of the Pistol Grip
As a general case, most handguns have a magazine well built into the pistol grip. Some other, more exotic designs have the magazine well forward of the pistol grip. The question is: what is the difference? What does it matter where the magazine is inserted into the gun? It performs the same function (feeding ammunition into the gun) and does not affect the bullets in any way. As such, it is, once again, a cosmetic and economic feature.Shotguns
Here we will discuss the law as it pertains to shotguns, and will then discuss each banned feature in turn.The Law
HR 1022 states:
`(H) A semiautomatic shotgun that has--
`(i) a folding or telescoping stock;
`(ii) a pistol grip;
`(iii) the ability to accept a detachable magazine; or
