The Biden administration says H.R. 7910, a bill imposing new age restrictions on sales by federally licensed gun dealers, "would ensure that individuals under 21 years of age cannot purchase weapons of war." But H.R. 7910, dubbed the Protecting Our Kids Act, sweeps much more broadly than the phrase "weapons of war" suggests, covering all semi-automatic centerfire rifles that accept detachable magazines.
President Joe Biden and other politicians who support a federal ban on "assault weapons" often call those arbitrarily defined firearms "weapons of war." But this bill applies to many guns that do not fit the legislative definition of "assault weapons," which hinges on military-style feature such as folding stocks, pistol grips, and barrel shrouds. That ambiguity suggests Biden is not sure which guns he wants to ban or why, and it illustrates the challenge of deciding which firearms are too dangerous to be tolerated.
