2017 Assault Weapons Gun Ban

Now that we are over a month into the new year, it's time to revisit the current gun ban and see where that leaves us in 2017. Throughout American history there have been a number of attempts to control the right to bare arms. The "Great Escape" which I sometimes like to identify our country as, allows for States to function somewhat freely from the Federal government. It's pretty much a self explanatory statement. New York State can ban gun ownership in the City of New York while Virginia residents can buy all the guns we want. This is a wonderful thing don't you think? If you don't like the laws of one state you a surely move to another. Though I thoroughly enjoy The American Way, I get the understanding of what motivates individuals to invent new loopholes.
From much online reading, it seems that California is the only state that's flipping tables concerning firearm ownership in 2017. They set into effect laws that ban the purchase of AR-15 and AK-47 style firearms. These bans were set into law on January 1, 2017. Also, all current owners of these types of weapons must register as owners by January 1, 2018. The ban itself like the majority of such post WWII is all about assault weapons. Assault weapons stem from the word assault rifle, which was first used during WWII by the Germans. Adolf Hitler was said to have named the StG 44 rifle as the Sturmgewehr 44 (which translates to "storm rifle" and "assault rifle"). The word was used to describe a rifle weapon that had a detachable magazine. It was one of the first of it's kind and later on would be used to describe all rifles with the same features. Hitler's use of the word Sturmgewehr was of Propaganda reasons for the war. I guess he wanted to empower his soldiers and scare the heck out of the Allies.

This sort of propaganda has outlived it's creators and has left a strong impression on our society today. Californian's are feeling the impact of changing gun laws the hardest. The public's answer to a past ban was the bullet button. The state has a rule that states a magazine's capacity can not exceed 10 rounds. The magazine can not also be "detachable" for fast reload. The bullet button went around this law by allowing the rifle user to need a bullet of other small object to press the button to release the magazine. This technically bypassed the law in that the weapons could not detach the mags for "fast reload". Firearm manufacturers soon followed suite and the bullet button is now the norm for semi automatic rifles shipped to California.

Now for 2017, these rifles must be registered with the state and taken to the local police station if the owner dies. The new ban states that no assault rifle is to be sold or exchanged in the state. Late 2016 saw a boost in rifle sales and it's said that local stores have depleted their stock of such weapons since the announcement of the ban. The creator the the bullet button has said that he has created a "bullet button 2" which is suppose to be a new loophole for the current ban. I guess it will be a battle between law and loophole in the coming year.