February 01, 2013
By Robert W. Hunnicutt
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has introduced the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, which has one and only one advantage over its predecessor, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 — an accurate title.
I personally don't believe it will pass, unless there is another mass shooting to match the Newtown, Conn., massacre. If that happens, all bets are off. But suppose it does; what are the guns you should buy — or more accurately, try to buy — given the short supplies caused by panic buying?
IWI Tavor The
IWI Tavor has just begun to be imported, and were Feinstein's bill to pass, the entire national supply might be no more than a couple thousand. The Tavor is a sexy bullpup that uses AR magazines. The very limited supply would make prices skyrocket if a ban passes.
Saiga-12 Shotgun The bill would ban any semi-auto shotgun with a detachable magazine, or even a fixed magazine that holds more than five rounds. Even a plain old
Remington 1100 with a pistol grip would be verboten. In some ways, the rules on shotguns are tougher than those on rifles.
Semi-Auto Thompson Think that
semi-auto Thompson would be exempt because it reproduces an antique? No way. Sen. Feinstein knows they're bad for your psyche. The Thompson has a pistol grip, a forward pistol grip and a drum magazine. Not only that, it's a semi-auto version of a full-auto gun. If you think the bill will pass, buy one now, or you'll never get to play Frank Nitti at Halloween.
SlideFire Stocks SlideFire stocks work great on a range; they are not intended for any sort of combat use, and the manufacturer specifies that. But you know Sen. Feinstein is not going to allow anything this fun, so now's the time to buy a SlideFire stock if you want one in the future.
Threaded-Barrel Pistols The bill doesn't propose to change the status of suppressors, but does propose to ban threaded barrels for mounting them. If you're afraid the bill will pass and think you might want a suppressor one day, now's the time to get a pistol with threaded barrel.