Republican Susan Collins and independent Angus King, U.S. senators from Maine, are calling for federal limits to assault weapons after Wednesday's mass shooting.
Still, the pair at a Thursday press briefing stopped short of calling to restore the full assault weapons ban, unlike Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, who disavowed his past opposition to a ban and now supports one.
"We had an assault weapon ban, which I supported, that was in effect for 10 years. It applied to, I believe, 17 or 19 styles of weapons. Later, the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-Calif.] proposed an expansion that would have covered 157 weapons," Collins said Thursday.
However, the ban "was based not on functionality, but on cosmetic features," she said, urging that future firearm regulations focus instead on "functionality."
"I think it is more important that we ban very high-capacity magazines. I think that would have more input and more effectiveness," Collins said. Later, she reiterated her support for banning bump stocks.
King expressed a similar hesitancy over reintroducing the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, echoing Collins' focus on functionality, as well as her support for bans on high-capacity magazines and bump stocks.
"We have one of the highest records of gun ownership in the country and the lowest level of gun violence," King said.
The senators' comments follow a mass shooting that spanned across two locations in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others, CNN reported.
Robert Card, a 40-year-old resident of Bowdoin, was identified by police on Oct. 25 as their primary suspect. A manhunt is currently underway to find him.
In response, President Joe Biden reiterated Thursday his calls for a new assault weapons ban, calling out congressional Republicans.
"Work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers," Biden urged GOP lawmakers.
The Federal Assault Weapons Ban was in place from 1994 until its sunset provision expired in 2004. It has not been renewed since.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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