A Republican lawmaker has used his own firearms as an example of how a ban on high-capacity magazines would target common handguns used by law-abiding Americans to defend themselves and their homes.
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) virtually attended a House Judiciary Committee hearing on a gun control bill on Thursday, where he held up a number of his own handguns with magazines that he said would be banned under the legislation.
“I was trying to highlight to the American people that this isn’t just a magazine ban on rifles,” Steube told “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Thursday evening.
The Florida lawmaker said that “every single semi-automatic weapon that takes more than a 10-round magazine would be banned” under legislation that passed the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
“Three of which I just happen to have, and I showed to make it very clear that a 10-round magazine doesn’t fit in it,” he added. “So by having the magazine ban, you are effectively banning all of these handguns that millions, hundreds of millions of Americans use every single day to defend themselves, [their] families, to protect their homesteads.”
The emergency committee hearing was called for Thursday to mark up H.R. 7910, the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” which is a legislative gun control package moved in response to a string of mass shootings in New York, Texas, and Oklahoma.
A high-capacity magazine is a firearm magazine defined by the Democrats’ bill as capable of holding 10 rounds or more. However, some Republican lawmakers consider 10-round magazines to be average capacity.
President Joe Biden has said he “does not support a ban on all handguns,” but does want assault weapons and high-capacity magazines banned.
These handguns, he said, would be banned under the legislation because their manufacturer model magazines start at 10 rounds, even though they are not semi-automatic rifles.
In a video Steube posted on Twitter, Steube held up his Sig Sauer P365 XL which he said he carries “every single day to protect myself my family, my wife, my home.”
“This is a XL Sig Sauer P365. It comes with a 15-round magazine. Here’s a seven-round magazine which would be less than what will be lawful under this bill, if this bill were to become law,” Steube said, as he unsuccessfully attempted to insert the seven-round magazine.
“It doesn’t fit,” he added, as he slid the magazine in and out. “So this gun would be banned.”
“That’s not even a high-capacity magazine. That’s like an average capacity magazine,” Massie said.
He also argued that the Democrats’ bill would essentially ban what he considered some of the most common handguns in circulation.
In his Fox interview, Steube argued that the Democrats sought to restrict the rights of Americans to own guns while they relied on them for their own protection.
“That’s the hypocrisy of the left,” Steube declared. “Joe Biden has all this security, Nancy Pelosi has all this security, the Capitol Police have all this security. Yet they want everyday Americans, like you and me, at our homes, at our businesses, as we drive, some of us that have concealed carry permits, to not be able to use the very weapons that we can utilize to protect our homes, our families and our loved ones.”
The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to advance H.R. 7910, but it is expected to fail in the GOP-controlled Senate.
