Ban new sales, start voluntary buyback

A recent Fox poll estimated twothirds of Americans now favor banning assault-style weapons, including 46% of Republicans. Most of the deadliest mass shootings since the assault weapons ban expired in 2004 were perpetrated with these dangerous killing machines. Americans are fed up.

But an assault weapons ban as currently proposed applies only to manufacture and sale of new weapons. What to do about the estimated 15 million already in circulation?

I congratulate O’Rourke for the courage to start this conversation. But I’m concerned that compliance with a mandatory buyback would be low and risk the lives of law enforcement officers attempting to enforce it.

Instead, let’s ban manufacture and sale of new semiautomatic rifles capable of holding high capacity magazines, and also ban all sales and transfers of already existing weapons. Current owners of these rifles would have the option of a buyback, or to both register the weapon and obtain a periodically renewed license to own it that would entail a comprehensive background check. Significant penalties would be imposed on anyone caught possessing weapons not in compliance with these requirements. By making transfers illegal, over time, these weapons will become more scarce.

Many gun-rights advocates will claim assault weapons bans, licensing and registration infringe upon Second Amendment rights. The courts disagree. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the 2008 Heller decision made clear