Many people on the left called anyone who stated that the Democratic Party wants to eventually take your guns away, a crackpot.  Well who are the crackpot’s now?

California Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell wrote an opinion/editorial piece in USA Today, in which he called for reinstating the 1990s federal assault-weapons ban and the confiscation of your guns.

Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell was quoted in that piece stating:

Instead, we should ban possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons, we should buy back such weapons from all who choose to abide by the law, and we should criminally prosecute any who choose to defy it by keeping their weapons

He then spoke about what he believed the cost to the American Taxpayer would be when he stated:

Based on manufacturing figures and other indirect data, there could be 15 million assault weapons out there. If we offer $200 to buy back each weapon — as many local governments have — then it would cost about $3 billion; at $1,000 each, the cost would be about $15 billion.

The first question is what counts as an "assault weapon"? The trouble all starts here. There's no technical definition of an "assault weapon." There are fully automatic weapons, which fire continuously when the trigger is held down. Those have been strictly regulated since 1934. Then there are semiautomatic weapons that reload automatically but fire only once each time the trigger is depressed. Semiautomatic pistols and rifles come in all shapes and sizes and are extremely common in the United States.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation the definition of an assault rifle is:

An assault rifle is fully automatic — a machine gun. Automatic firearms have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.

Well when Congress was debating the 1994 Assault Weapons ban they didn't want to ban all semiautomatic weapons, why because that would ban most guns, period. So, in crafting the 1994 ban, lawmakers mainly focused on 18 specific firearms, as well as certain military-type features on guns. Complicated flow charts laid it all out. Certain models of AR-15s and AK-47s were banned. Any semiautomatic rifle with a pistol grip and a bayonet mount was an "assault weapon." But a semiautomatic rifle with just a pistol grip might be okay.

The Assault Weapons ban defined an assault weapon, in part, as:

DEFINITION OF SEMIAUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPON- Section 921(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following:

a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least 2 of--

‘(i) a folding or telescoping stock;

‘(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;

‘(iii) a bayonet mount;

‘(iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor; and

‘(v) a grenade launcher;

The law also covered certain semi-automatic pistols and shotguns; click the link above for the full definition.

The second question is whether banning certain guns from law abiding citizens would actually keep the guns out of the hands of dangerous people.  Kris Brown, co-president of the Brady Campaign, has in the past repudiated confiscation.  In fact he told NBC News last March and was quoted in a Washington Times article that:

it’s about keeping guns out of dangerous hands and not about confiscating guns

That is truly the question, how do we keep guns out of the hands of people who intend to do harm with them, by outlawing law abiding citizens from purchasing them?

If there are 15 million assault weapons, under Democratic Congressmen Eric Swalwell’s count, do you really believe even 75% of all of those “assault weapons” will be turned in our confiscated?

If not that would leave 3,750,000 “assault weapons” still in the general public somewhere.

More From WKMI