By Joseph P. Tartaro | Executive Editor
Straight answers are hard to come by in the Obama administration.
The Treasury Department and Vice President Biden claim that AR-15 style rifles are “assault weapons.” President Obama has called them “weapons of war.”
But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls them “personal defense weapons.” Yes, that’s the same DHS that recently published guidelines for personal defense that recommended running away or at least turning on armed attackers with a pair of scissors.
Cutting to the chase however, DHS considers commercially available AR-15 style rifles as “personal defense weapons” even when they are of the “select fire” variety.
That’s the terminology that used in the latest request for a General Service Administration (GSA) for bids under a proposal by DHS on the Federal Business Opportunities website. The bid is for a start 7,000 “personal defense rifles” to be delivered to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Training Unit in a 12 month period, with options for renewal annually for five years.
The solicitation refers to these “commercial items” as “5.56x45mm NATO, select-fire (my emphasis) firearms suitable for personal defense use in close quarters and/or when maximum concealment is required.” Notice DHS is not asking for bids on semi-automatics like the average American citizen can still own, but which some in the US government want to ban. DHS wants single, or multiple-shot capability with one pull of the trigger.
And, surprise, DHS is also requesting high capacity magazines that have a capacity to hold 30 rounds, not 10, and not seven rounds like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants, but a full 30 rounds of 5.56x45mm NATO rounds.”
The heads up on this double-talk from the White House came from New York State Sen. Greg Ball (R) who is opposed to the new gun ban in his home state.
