On March 7, the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), began consideration of several bills, including anti-gun Sen. Dianne Feinstein's S. 150--the "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013."
The controversial bill has already been met with much resistance. During debate on the bill, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) pointed out that "Congress and President Clinton tried a so-called assault weapons ban 19 years ago and we have the benefit of hindsight as well as some research to examine the lackluster results of that decade-long experiment. According to the Department of Justice's own study it was completely ineffectual in reducing murder or violent crime rates."
Cornyn continued, "So, are we really going to pass another law that will have zero effect, and pat ourselves on the back and say 'We've accomplished something wonderful?' Well, we tried this experiment once and it failed, and I think it promotes symbolism over seriousness to repeat that mistake."
Sen. Cornyn also offered an amendment to exempt all U.S. military personnel and veterans from Feinstein's proposed ban, but the measure was rejected by a 9-9 party-line vote. During this portion of debate, Feinstein argued that a military veteran could be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (which she bizarrely claimed was a "new phenomenon as a product of the Iraq war"), and suggested that they should therefore be prevented from buying or "having a weapon like this."
Feinstein, herself, was quoted as saying, "I've been very concerned because the calls have been coming in as if this is some kind of wild eyed scheme." We couldn't agree more.
The committee recessed in the midst of debating the bill and will resume markup of the bill next Thursday, March 14.
Please continue to contact your Senators and tell them to oppose S. 150--the "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013." To identify and contact your legislators in Washington, D.C., you can use the "Write Your Reps" feature at www.NRAILA.org, or you can reach your member of Congress by phone at 202-224-3121.
Senate Judiciary Committee Begins Consideration of Feinstein's "Assault Weapons" Bill

Friday, March 8, 2013
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
On March 11, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued two decisions concerning the Commonwealth’s firearms carry licensing scheme for nonresidents.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
On Wednesday, March 12th, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that had declared unconstitutional Ballot Measure 114, which imposed a permit-to-purchase scheme and banned the possession of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. ...
Friday, February 7, 2025
Today, the White House announced a new Executive Order to protect and expand the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans. This is the first action taken by President Donald J. Trump to carry through ...
Thursday, March 6, 2025
Yesterday the New Mexico Senate Judiciary Committee met to continue discussions on Senate Bill 279 (GoSAFE). The author did not accept the committee substitute to amend the near all-encompassing ban on semi-auto firearms with equally ...
Friday, March 14, 2025
On Tuesday, March 18th, the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary will hold a public hearing on Senate Bill 5098, a gun-free zone expansion bill. The hearing has been set for 10:30AM.
More Like This From Around The NRA
