Md. Rep. Cummings Joins Democrats Introducing Bill To Ban Assault Weapons
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings has announced his support of a bill banning assault weapons on Monday, nearly two weeks after a gunman used an AR-15 in a deadly shooting at a Florida high school.
The Assault Weapons Ban of 2018 was formally introduced by Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline and Florida Rep. Ted Deutch. The legislation would make it "unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a semiautomatic assault weapon."
However, the ban would not affect the "possession, sale, or transfer of any semiautomatic assault weapon otherwise lawfully possessed under Federal law on the date of enactment of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2018. "
Cummings tweeted Monday afternoon that the bill is a "common sense measure."
"For too long, Congress has done nothing to protect our public safety. We must act, for the sake of our children and for generations yet unborn," he wrote.
The Hill reports the proposed legislation is the latest move by Democrats to enact a ban on assault weapons since the Federal Assault Weapons ban expired in 2004.
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