McCarthy (D) Ignorant of Her Own Bill

New York Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D) introduced a bill (H.R. 1859) last week "to reinstate the prohibition on the possession or transfer of large capacity ammunition feeding devices, and to strengthen that prohibition." It's very similar to the one she proposed in March, 2005 (H.R. 1312).

Among the weapons affected are those with barrel shrouds; however, when Mrs. McCarthy was asked to explain what a barrel shroud is it became apparent that she doesn't actually know. This is problem number one - not knowing what your own legislation does.

In fact, the barrel shroud has "little if any effect on the ballistic performance of the weapon." It basically serves as a heat shield, additional grip, and recoil control.

The second and greater problem with Mrs. McCarthy's series of assault weapons-control legislation - (H.R. 1312), (H.R. 1022), & (H.R. 1859) - is that the results of the 10-year ban on assault weapons from 1994 through 2004 are inconclusive at best. According to crime reports by the FBI, there has been an overall decrease in gun violence since 1994. A victory for the ban, right? Not exactly...

There was also an overall decrease in the use of non-gun murder weapons, which clearly were not affected by the legislation. Furthermore, correlation does not imply causation. And lastly, despite recent events, there continues to be a decrease in gun-violence in the US.

This information is readily available to you, Mrs. McCarthy. Perhaps next time you'll make yourself aware of what you're banning and regulating.