Adam Schiff: “this debate is not about firepower. True rapid fire automatic weapons, military assault weapons, have been banned for…”

“this debate is not about firepower. True rapid fire automatic weapons, military assault weapons, have been banned for years, and they should be banned. What can make a weapon an assault weapon, and thereby illegal under the current legislation, is whether is carries a bayonet. The same rifle with a bayonet can be illegal as an assault weapon under this legislation. The same rifle without a bayonet can be a legal weapon. I invite any proponent of the current legislation to explain exactly how whether a weapon can carry a bayonet makes sense. Second of all, Director Magaw of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, has told me that the Federal Government does not keep records of when what they call assault weapons are used in crimes. If the chief Government enforcer of Federal firearms law says the Government does not keep records of when such weapons are used in crime, I think that makes any statistics being thrown out here about the use of these weapons in crime and how they have been affected, if at all, by the current legislation, very, very suspect.”