Feinstein: 'Weapons of War Don't Belong on the Streets'

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said this morning on Fox News that the Aurora theater massacre just shows that “weapons of war don’t belong on the streets.”

“We’ve got to sit down and really come to grips with what is sold to the average citizen in America. I have no problem with people being licensed and buying a firearm. But these are weapons that you are only going to be using to kill people in close combat,” Feinstein said, lamenting the expiration of her 10-year bill that led to the Federal Assault Weapons Ban but hasn’t been renewed since 2004.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) countered that suspect James Holmes is “sick and demented, you know, evil individual.”

“And, unfortunately, I don’t think society can keep sick and demented individuals from obtaining any type of weapon to kill people. I mean, somebody who wants to purposely harm another individual is going to find a method of doing it,” Johnson said. “…This isn’t an issue about guns. This is just really an issue about sick, demented individuals. And it’s a tragedy and I don’t think there is a solution here in Washington to solve this problem.”

“I wish I could wave a magic and pass a law to prevent something like this from the future,” he added. “But the fact of the matter is, I really don’t think there is, other than look to our families, look to our communities, starting with our education system.”

Feinstein said people like Holmes “use these weapons because they can get them.”

“Why do you need this? You don’t need it for hunting. Most states have limits on the number of bullets you can have for a clip. You don’t need it for self defense,” she said.

Johnson retorted that “criminals will always get whatever they want.”

“The left used the term assault rifles,” he said. “They’re really talking about semi-automatic weapons that really are use in hunting.”

“I would be very surprised if hunters in your state hunted with a 100-round ammunition feeding devices,” Feinstein argued. “In the bill I did, we exempted 375 rifles and shot guns by name so that no weapon used for hunting was affected at all.”