The overwhelming majority Democrat group says such power should be reserved for trained police and military only.
Mississippi’s Legislative Black Caucus is calling for Congress to ban high-capacity rifles.
That’s the word from MLBC chair State Senator Angela Turner Ford as Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate are negotiating on a gun package.
All but one member of the Legislative Black Caucus are Democrats. That member is a former Democrat turned Independent.
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In a release issued by the Legislative Black Caucus on Thursday, Senator Turner Ford stated that as U.S. congressional leadership debates increased gun safety measures in Washington, D.C., the MLBC hopes citizens will reach out to the state’s delegation and urge them to support legislation to ban and restrict the sale, possession, and civilian use of military style assault rifles “because it makes sense to do so.”
“I am aware of the Second Amendment’s rights for gun ownership, but the average civilian should not be allowed to own or possess military style rifles capable of firing up to 45 rounds per minute,” Senator Turner Ford said. “These guns often have magazines holding 30 or more bullets. Such power should be reserved for trained police and military only.”
Mississippi U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith are awaiting the actual bill language before committing on the measure. Both have expressed their reluctance to infringe on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens who own guns.
However, the Legislative Black Caucus believes such weapons in civilian hands have far too often been used in mass shootings or “slaughter” of innocent civilians.
“We should all be in support of removing these powerful weapons from the hands of our civilian population,” Senator Turner Ford said, adding, “I urge each Mississippian to call your respective U.S. Congressman or U.S. Senator and ask them to support a ban on military style and military grade weapons as they debate levels of federal gun control.“
