DeGette Among Democrats Who Push For Support Of National Assault Weapons Ban

By Lindsey Toomer, Colorado Newsline

February 1, 2023

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, pushed for congressional support of her bill aiming to ban high-capacity magazines along with U.S. Rep. David Cicilline’s Assault Weapons Ban Act, which the Rhode Island Democrat reintroduced today.

The Assault Weapons Ban Act passed in the Democratic-controlled House last year but failed to get through the Senate. It would ban the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons, including AR-15s, which have been used in several high-profile mass shootings, and high-capacity gun magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds.

This legislation now includes DeGette’s Keep Americans Safe Act, which she originally introduced Monday before looping it in with the Assault Weapons Ban legislation. The bill would ban the sale or transfer of gun magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds and prevent new ones from being manufactured without a serial number specific to law enforcement.

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“These devices aren’t designed for hunting — these devices are designed for war,” DeGette said Wednesday. “And if we are going to get serious about protecting our communities, we have to get them off our streets now.”

DeGette recalled the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, which at the time was part of her district, when she was only in her second term in Congress. She is now starting her 14th term. She said millions of parents have continued to fear for their kids’ safety sending them to class every day with school and other mass shootings only increasing since then.

“As a society, we have to take it upon ourselves to stand up against the special interests and to protect our communities from this constant source of violence,” DeGette said. “We’ve learned that no two mass shootings are the same, but a common thread that unites us in some of the deadliest of the events is the use of high-capacity magazines.”

Additionally, DeGette cited the mass shooting in Aurora in 2012, when a shooter used a 100-round magazine to open fire in a crowded movie theater, shooting 70 people in less than two minutes.

“Those who survived the shooting said they were pinned down, unable to move or flee, because of the constant barrage of bullets coming at them from the 100-round magazine,” DeGette said.

The Colorado Legislature then banned large-capacity magazines carrying more than 15 rounds in 2013.

Other speakers at the press conference included survivors of the Sandy Hook and Parkland school shootings as well as other Democratic sponsors of the Assault Weapons Ban Act whose districts have also seen deadly mass shootings.

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