Congressman Introduces Bill To Ban Body Armor And Homemade Firearms

A Democratic Congressman introduced three anti-gun bills last week that would put severe restrictions on body armor and home-assembled firearms across the country.

Representative Mike Honda of California says the bills are “sensible, reasonable measures to limit the damage that can be inflicted by guns.” He added that the bills will “modernize our gun laws.”

The first bill, the Home Assembled Firearms Restriction Act, would outlaw the sale, manufacture and import of so called “80 percent lowers,” the unfinished receivers that are used in home gun assembly. It was co-sponsored by seven other Democrats.

The second bill, the Homemade Firearms Accountability Act, would mandate that all home built firearms have a permanent unique serial number and are reported to ATF for entry into their databases.

The last bill, the Responsible Body Armor Possession Act, would ban so-called “enhanced body armor.” The bill defines this as “any wearable armor including helmets or shields that offer a ballistic protection of Type III or above” as determined by National Institute of Justice standards.

Rep. Honda tried and failed to pass several similar bills in Congress last year. He was also a sponsor of the infamous “ghost gun” bill that passed the California Senate last year but was so poorly written that it was actually vetoed by liberal Democratic Governor Jerry Brown.

He is unlikely to have much more luck in a Republican-controlled Congress, and these bills amount to little more than political grandstanding.