S1431 - New Assault Weapons Ban (The fine print)

FreeRepublic.com's Dan from Michigan noticed some interesting language hiding in S.1431, the New Assault Weapons Ban that counts John Kerry as a co-sponsor. Buried inside Sec. 2 is paragraph (L)...

`(L) A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General. In making the determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any Federal law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.'.

Note that the text says "A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun", but not "A semiautomatic rifle or semiautomatic shotgun". In other words, any shotgun with a military lineage, such as the Mossberg 500, could be considered an "assault weapon" under the bill that Kerry is co-sponsoring. It does not have to be semiautomatic; it only has to be labeled as "not particularly suitable for sporting purposes".

The Devil is in the details.