Feinstein Warns Her Gun Ban Expands Beyond ‘Assault’ Rifles

Sen. Feinstein Introduces Stringent Assault Weapons Ban, Foresees 'Uphill' Battle (U.S. News)

The federal assault weapons ban proposed Thursday by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would be more restrictive than the one that expired nearly a decade ago, which was criticized by gun-control advocates as being full of holes.

"It’s much better," said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "It’s a huge improvement."

The last ban prohibited 19 varieties of semiautomatic firearms by name, as well as certain kinds of shotguns. It also instituted a test that determined which guns were banned based on whether or not they had two or more “military-style” features, such as a pistol grip, folding rifle stock, or barrel equipped for a silencer.

This one would ban 157 specific guns, including the popular AR-15 style of semi-automatic rifle, and would require just one "military-style" feature to be prohibited.