Quinter: New state ban on semi-automatics proposed

[derby378]

For the third straight year following the lapse of a federal assault weapons ban, Maryland legislators are faced with deciding whether to make it illegal to own, buy or sell specific types of semiautomatic rifles and shotguns...

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing March 8, Del. Neil Quinter, a Democrat from Columbia, questioned the need for rifles with military-style attachments.

"None of these features is very useful for killing a deer," he said. "These are weapons that were designed to kill large numbers of human beings at once."

Owners of assault weapons countered that they use them for target shooting and marksmanship competitions.

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=658&NewsID=704237&CategoryID=1825&on=1

[benEzra]

1. So a non-automatic civilian rifle with a handgrip that sticks out...

is somehow "designed to kill large numbers of human beings at once."

I wonder if that's why he thinks the police generally issue rifles with protruding handgrips...so they can mow down large numbers of people at once? Sheesh. Handgrips that are more vertical are simply MORE ERGONOMIC for firing a rifle from the shoulder than an 1800's style wooden stock like Mr. Quinter thinks we should all be forced to use, or else.

Not sure why he thinks deer enter into the equation...since the vast majority of gun owners DON'T HUNT...

It's clueless individuals like this that are responsible for the "Dems will take your guns away" perception, which the repubs use to their great benefit...

[dcfirefighter]

2. What's deer got to do with it?

Not that they'll listen, but I'll write my reps in opposition to this one.

[DavidMS]

3. There is quite a thread in the Gun-dungon

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x123054

My own take is that this probably won't do much about crimes commited with firearms, as most criminals tend not to favor rifles.

[benEzra]

4. Recent stats from the FBI show how STUPID this proposal is...

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offenses_reported/offense_tabulations/table_20-22.html


State.....Total.....Total.....Handguns...Rifles...Shotguns....Firearms......Edged......Other......Hands, Fists,
.........Murders...Firearms................................(Type Unknown)..Weapons....Weapons........Feet

Maryland.....520.....386.........362.......2.........17...........5..........57...........47..........30



Look at the stats. Out of 520 murders, TWO of them used rifles of any type.

FIFTEEN TIMES as many people were murdered with fists and feet as with all kinds of rifles combined.

TWENTY-NINE TIMES as many people were murdered with knives and cutting tools as with all kinds of rifles combined.

So what, again, is the massive threat from civilian ownership of rifles with protruding handgrips in the state of Maryland?