Representative Chris Jacobs (RN.Y.) has spoken out in favor of banning weapons of attack after two mass shootings in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, and in Uwalde, Texas, took a total of more than two dozen lives.
Jacobs told a news conference Friday that if the AR-15-style arms bill comes to the House of Representatives, he will vote in favor. He added that he would also support raising the age limit for some arms sales to 21, imposing a federal restriction on the capacity of arms stores and banning the sale of bulletproof vests to the public.
Jacobs received approval from the National Weapons Association during his election to Congress in 2020, saying he was honored to receive the approval and vowed to serve as an “ally and fighter” for gun owners in western New York.
He said in an interview with The Buffalo News on Friday that he had reconsidered his position on weapons after the two mass shootings in Buffalo and Uwalde. Jacobs is the 27th congressional district of New York, which includes suburbs outside of Buffalo, but not the city itself. He is currently running in the state’s 23rd district after a 10-year redistribution process in New York eliminated the 27th.
“I believe it is important to be transparent about my views on this, and certainly what has happened here in our community, an unprecedented massacre,” Jacobs told a news conference.
He said he had studied the Federal Prohibition of Assault Weapons Act, passed by Congress in 1994, and concluded that “it is not as effective as you think,” but the most effective part was limiting its weapons-carrying capacity. . The ban limits certain semi-automatic weapons to 10 years, until it expired in 2004 without a resumption of Congress. Studies have found that mass deaths have decreased while the law was in effect, but the evidence is uncertain about the extent to which the ban has contributed, according to Politifact.
Jacobs said there was currently no bill banning assault weapons in the House of Representatives and did not expect Democrats to have the political will to introduce one, but would support it if introduced. He said that while he would support a ban on the sale of such weapons, he was not in favor of confiscating those people already owned.
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He said it was “perfectly reasonable” for the age limit for buying at least high-capacity semi-automatic weapons to be 21, similar to the threshold for buying alcohol.
He also said he planned to introduce a bill banning the sale of bulletproof vests to people who are not in law enforcement, security or “fields where it makes sense.” An armed man at the Buffalo supermarket earlier this month wore a bulletproof vest that apparently protected him from security fire.
Jacobs acknowledged that the change in his position could be controversial and cause political challenges for him as he runs for re-election in a highly conservative area.
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