Norvell Emerson: “I rise today to express my objections and opposition to this ill-advised piece of legislation, and I challenge the…”

“I rise today to express my objections and opposition to this ill-advised piece of legislation, and I challenge the administration's intellectually honest about its real purposes with this legislation. This bill is just the beginning of a more expensive and more intrusive dictate on our second amendment rights. That's right, this administration has no intention of stopping at the current list of banned semi-automatic weapons. I refer to them as semi-automatic weapons because that is what they are. They are not assault weapons, they are not machine guns, they are not military-style fire power, and they don't spray bullets. The name assault rifle is merely hype by the anti-gun lobby and the liberal media to make them seem more deadly. They may look more powerful, but the fact is they're not. In fact, there is no functional difference between what proponents of this bill call assault weapons and those they claim to protect through the exemptions. So essentially, Mr. Speaker, we are beginning a process here for banning certain firearms because of how they look. They might have a folding stock or they might be mounted with a tripod, but these items affect the appearance, not the performance of the gun. I challenge anyone here to tell me how a tripod or a folding stock makes the gun more lethal.”