Vice President Kamala Harris announced her intention to try and ban what she referred to as “assault weapons” following the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Vice President Harris seemed to imply reporters outside of Air Force Two at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport that the Biden administration is looking to take executive action to initiate the ban, saying “We are not sitting around waiting to figure out what the solution looks like. You know, we’re not looking for a vaccine. We know what works on this. Let’s have an assault weapons ban.”
Harris then went on to speak at the funeral of Ruth Whitfield, one of 10 Black people killed by a self-proclaimed white supremacist at a Buffalo supermarket. There she called for an end to what she called an “epidemic of hate”.
“And it means then also, in that strength, understanding we will not allow small people to create fear in our communities that we will not be afraid to stand up for what is right, to speak up even when it may be difficult to hear and speak. Enough is enough.”
Following the funeral, when questioned what she meant by an “assault weapon” when she mentioned the ban, Harris told reporters “You know what an assault weapon is? You know how an assault weapon was designed? It was designed for a specific purpose – to kill a lot of human beings quickly. An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in a civil society.”
While her answer may still not provide specifics, it can be assumed that Kamala Harris was referring to the AR-15 that was used in the elementary school. Currently these weapons are available to the public, however the government has effectively banned automatic weapons and bump stocks in the past.
Every time one of these major shootings happen, it seems like it ends in some new form of legislation to stop Americans from buying certain firearms. What do you think they will go for this time if they can’t get the full ban on “assault weapons”?
