Dianne Feinstein’s “assault weapons” ban will not be included in the Senate’s gun control legislation

 Harry Reid has informed Dianne Feinstein that her assault weapons ban will not be included in the gun control legislation that he will bring forward in the Senate.

An assault weapons ban won’t be in the gun-control legislation that Democrats bring to the Senate floor next month, a decision that means the ban’s chances of survival now are all but hopeless.

The ban is the most controversial firearms restriction that President Barack Obama and other Democrats have pressed for since an assault-type weapon was used in the December massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Rejection by Congress would be a major victory for the National Rifle Association and its supporters and a setback for Obama and the provision’s sponsor, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

In a tactical decision, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., concluded that including the prohibition in the gun bill would jeopardize the chances for passage of any firearms legislation at all, taking away votes that would be needed to overcome Republican attempts to block the Senate from even taking up the issue.

  It turns out that there is not nearly enough support for the ban to even bring it forward:

Reid told reporters that “using the most optimistic numbers,” there were less than 40 votes for Feinstein’s ban. That is far less than the 60 votes needed to move contested legislation in the chamber, which has 53 Democrats plus two independents who usually back them.

  This is only a small victory however and we should not sit back thinking we won a major victory of any kind. The ban can still be added as an amendment and voted on separately, and while this might mean the assault weapon amendment will not pass the legislation still includes a ban on magazines over 10 rounds.

  While the article I linked to above claims that the assault weapons ban is the most controversial aspect of Dianne Feinstein’s legislation I beg to differ because banning 10 round magazines is basically a ban on all handguns.

  This may be a watered down version of gun control legislation, but it is still control and it is still an attack on the second amendment and it still must be defeated.