Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) called on Congress Tuesday to renew a federal ban on assault weapons in the wake of the deadly theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12 people and wounded 58 others.
While acknowledging that the federal ban, which was allowed to expire in 2004, and other proposals – such as bill that would ban high-capacity ammunition magazines – “will not stop all mass killings, or even all mass shootings,” Schiff said in a statement Tuesday that some common sense steps could be taken “to make these types of shootings more rare and less destructive.”
“We must also examine legislation to close the gun show loopholes and crack down on straw purchasing, both of which help divert guns out of legal channels and into black markets where they are easily obtained by criminals and the mentally ill,” he said.
The suspect in the shooting, James E. Holmes, used an AR-15 assault-style rifle with a magazine that could hold as many as 100 rounds. But when that weapon jammed, authorities said, he switched to a less powerful weapon.
