Minnesota Lawmakers Ponder Rimfire Tube Mag Restrictions Under “Assault Weapons” Ban

    The classic .22LR rifle with a long tube magazine is a standard feature in rural American households. Millions of farm boys started their shooting careers with a Marlin Model 60 or similar rifle that would take almost half a box of rimfire shells… but in Minnesota, some lawmakers are considering rimfire tube mag restrictions that would see those rifles banned as “assault weapons.”

     Laws And Regulations @ TFB:

    It’s all part of House File 3570, which is currently before the state’s House Committee on Public Safety Finance and Policy. If you read the body of the legislation (see it here), you’ll first note a long list of rifles that are banned by name. Under this legislation, a wide range of firearms from the AR-15 to the TEC-9 to the SKS, and any firearms that are basically the same but under another name, would be banned from transfer. The government would also enact so-called “buy-back” legislation to purchase “semi-automatic military-style assault weapons.”

    The U.S. has seen this sort of thing before, going back decades now. But—read on to the paragraphs following the list of banned-by-name guns. Here, we see a list of functions and features that the lawmakers also want to ban. Again, nothing we haven’t seen before, but this list goes beyond the usual claptrap. Here are some things they’re considering as assault weapons:

    • A semi-auto rifle that can accept a detachable magazine and also has a pistol grip or thumbhole stock, or a “protruding grip that can be held by the nontrigger hand”
    • A semi-auto rifle that accepts a detachable magazine and also has a folding or telescopic stock
    • A semi-auto rifle that has a fixed magazine that “has the capacity to accept more than ten rounds of ammunition”
    • A semi-auto shotgun with pistol grip, thumbhole stock, or “any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by thenontrigger hand”
    • A shotgun with a revolving cylinder

    There’s lots more, and again, you should click here to see the whole list.

    rimfire tube mag restrictions

    Does this look like an assault weapon to you? It looks like an assault weapon to Minnesota lawmakers… [Sam S./TFB]

    Take a look, and think of what would potentially be banned:

    • Some Ruger 10/22 models, including those with aftermarket stock
    • The Marlin Model 60, Browning SA-22, Savage 87 and almost any other .22 autoloader with a tube mag
    • All those Mossberg .22s with the goofy flip-down forestocks
    • All the revolving .410 shotguns that have come to the U.S. over the past few years

    If you think rimfire tube mag restrictions and the rest of this list sound ridiculous, then head here to voice your opposition.

    Zac K

    Professional hoser with fudd-ish leanings.


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