Sen. Angus King, Democrats Push Semiautomatic Rifle Ban for ‘Lethal Capacity Weapons’

Sen. Angus King (I-ME) joined three Senate Democrats on Thursday to introduce a ban on the most popular semiautomatic rifles in America, describing such firearms as “lethal capacity weapons.”

The Senate Democrats are Martin Heinrich (NM), Mark Kelly (AZ), and Michael Bennet (CO).

WATCH — AWR Hawkins: Why Gun Control Is Not the Solution to Mass Shootings:

The ban is titled the Gas-Operated Semiautomatic Firearm Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act.

GOSAFE would limit magazine capacity and outlaw bump stocks, which were not even used in the October 25, Lewiston shootings, which King cited as an impetus for the Act, the Portland Press Herald noted.

The ban would also “build on previous legislative efforts by prohibiting the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms that have replaceable high capacity magazines.”

King commented on the legislation, saying:

The [GOSAFE Act] addresses the lethal capacity weapons like the one used in Lewiston and most of the deadliest mass shootings across the country. Nothing can bring back the lives of our family and friends, but responsible actions moving forward can reduce the likelihood of such a nightmare happening again in Maine or anywhere else.

WATCH — AWR Hawkins: “Semiautomatics Allow Women to Level the Playing Field”:

Kelly said, “The GOSAFE Act is a targeted bill that protects the rights of responsible gun owners while regulating the most dangerous semi-automatic rifles, detachable high-capacity magazines, and accessories that have increasingly concerned law enforcement and been used over and over again in mass shootings.”

In April 2013, Breitbart News reported that Kelly was shooting a Glock 9mm with a 17-round magazine in Arizona. Two months earlier he had testified in favor of limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds.

As for the semiautomatic firearms King and the Democrats want to ban, on July 21, 2022, Breitbart News pointed to National Shooting Sports Foundation numbers showing there were more AR/AK-style firearms in circulation “than Ford F-Series trucks on the road.”

The precise figure was 24,446,000 AR/AK-style firearms in circulation at that time. The number of such firearms in circulation in late 2023 is certainly millions more than the mid-2022 figure.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.