WA Democrats Weigh Ban on ‘Assault Weapons,’ .50 Cal. Rifle, 11-Round Mags

Democrat lawmakers in Washington State will consider an “assault weapons” ban this week, as well as an end to ammunition magazines holding 11 rounds or more.

They legislation they are weighing–House Bill 2241–also tucks in .50 Cal. Rifles under the “assault weapons” moniker, banning those rifles alongside AR-15s.

KIRO7 reports that January 20-21 are the days on which committees will consider the bans.

The text of HB 2241 makes clear everything from an AK-47 or AR-15 to a SKS and Barrett .50 Cal M107A1 would be prohibited, as would “a semiautomatic, centerfire, or rimfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches.”

In other words, .50 Cal rifles longer than 30 inches would be banned and rimfire rifles under 30 inches would also be banned.

As for magazines, HB 2241 defines a “high capacity” magazine as “an ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than ten rounds of ammunition, or any conversion kit, part, or combination of parts, from which such a device can be assembled if those parts are in the possession or under the control of the same person.”

On January 13, 2020, Breitbart News reported Gov. Jay Inslee (D) was pushing the “assault weapons” ban and the ban on magazines holding 11 rounds or more.

KIRO7 reported Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) was also pushing gun controls, and those included background checks for ammunition purchases. K5News reported Ferguson also wants to require would-be ammunition sellers to get a “license to sell” from the state.

On September 30, 2019, Breitbart News reported FBI stats showing over fives times more people were killed with knives in 2018 than were killed with rifles of any kind.

The FBI data showed a total 1,515 deaths by knives and/or other cutting instruments vs. 297 deaths by rifle in 2018.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, 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. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.