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It may seem like that but if the antis really had a limiter they would go for handguns before AR15s considering
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They already tried that and failed. Before it was "Brady Campaign" it was called "Handgun Control, Inc." and before it was called that it was the "National Coalition to Ban Handguns." The shift to "assault weapons" came because the other gun ban organization Violence Policy Center correctly realized they were an easier target. They were involved rarely in crime but often in high-profile crimes. At that time, they weren't common even among gun owners. And their major defining characteristic was they were "scary" which allowed a lot of vague language that could later be used to inch gun control forward.
The same language Martha Healey just used to justify banning broad swaths of firearms in MA is almost verbatim from the federal ban.
Because when you get right down to it, what is the defining feature of an "assault weapon"? A detachable magazine and semi-automatic. If you can get people to ban guns based on that idea because those guns are scary looking, you are more than halfway to a handgun ban. I'd say they knew exactly what they were doing when they picked a firearm that was used more often in service rifle competition than any crime to demonize.