Demand One

In July 2012 a gunman entered a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and shot and killed 12 people, injuring 70 more.

In December 2012, a gunman entered a elementary school in Newton, Conn., and murdered six teachers and 20 children.

In June 2016, a gunman entered a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and killed 49 people.

In October 2017, a gunman opened fire in Las Vegas at a concert and killed 58 people.

In November 2017, a gunman killed 26 people ranging from 17 months to 77 years old in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

In February 2018 a gunman walked into a school in Parkland, Fla., and killed 17 people.

What do all these shootings have in common besides terror and heartbreak? An automatic weapon.

The first priority policy that Youth EMPOWER supports is the Assault Weapons Ban of 2017, a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and her colleagues.

This bill will ban the sale, manufacture, transfer, and importation of 205 military style assault weapons by name. It will also ban assault weapons that have a detachable ammunition magazine or has any of the following military characteristics: a pistol grip, a forward grip, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel, or a folding telescope stock.

Ammunition feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition will be banned as well. It also bans bump-fire stocks or other devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at fully automatic rates.

Although all these are banned, people who already own any of these weapons or magazines can keep them. They won’t get taken away.

The bill includes a grandfather clause that exempts all weapons that are lawfully owned by the date of the enactment of the bill. The only requirement is that these weapons and magazines be stored using secure gun storage or other safety devices.

Also, the bill exempts over 2,200 guns by name that are used for hunting, household defense, or recreational purposes. The bill requires a background check on any future sale of the automatic weapons that are exempt from the bill.