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12 Drexel L. Rev. 331 (2019-2020)
How Can You Ban What Doesn't Exist? Redefining the "Assault Weapon"

handle is hein.journals/drexel12 and id is 347 raw text is: HOW CAN YOU BAN WHAT DOESN'T EXIST? REDEFINING THE ASSAULT WEAPON Meagan Kelly* ABSTRACT The term assault weapon has become synonymous with one of the most contentious political debates of our time. As gun politics stands today, there remains little room for compromise and a narrative mired in heavy emotion and staunch traditional principles. But as the debate swirls and deadlocks, the United States continues to experience a trend of violence unique amongst all other developed democratic soci- eties. Yet neither this characteristically American mass violence, nor the continuous political efforts to restrict or expand Second Amend- ment rights are recent phenomena. Our country has been deeply en- trenched in the assault weapon debate for more than half of the twenty-first century, and as the natures of societal violence, warfare, and the firearms market at large change, the understanding of the term assault weapon does so as well. This Note examines those different understandings of an assault weapon and how those conflicting un- derstandings have shaped legislation and, consequently, the resistance to legislation attempting to restrict the controversial weapon. Com- peting understandings of an assault weapon have led to a patchwork system of state-to-state assault weapon bans and a federal ban which not only lacked the political support to avoid expiration in 2004, but also had little overall effect during the decade it was in force. Mass shootings are a pervasive and continuous threat to the fabric of Amer- ican society and the problem must be addressed explicitly. The right * J.D. Candidate, May 2020, Drexel University Kline School of Law. I would first like to thank the Drexel Law Review for their diligent editing, and Professor David Cohen for his advice and guidance throughout my writing process. I also want to thank my parents, Paul and Karen Kelly, for giving me the opportunity to be here in the first place and supporting me through these last 3 years. Lastly, I want to thank my partner in crime, Tim Traverse, for being by my side all throughout law school. This Note is dedicated to the 20 children and 6 educators who lost their lives on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. May they have left us with lessons to learn and missions to accomplish, so that we may not have lost them in vain. 331

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