Democratic Rep. Karen Bass of California labeled semi-automatic rifles “weapons of mass destruction” Wednesday.
Democrats Sitting On The House Floor, Screen Grab MSNBC, 6-22-2016
During phone interview with MSNBC’s “Andrea Michell Reports,” Bass commented on the proposed gun control bills, saying that on the House side, “We do have several measures that we have introduced. But what happens to them after they’re introduced is up to the leadership, and clearly their position as of right now is they don’t want anything to move.” (VIDEO: Democratic Rep. Sanchez Decries ‘Multiautomatic Round Weapons’)
Bass said, “the idea that [Republicans] are OK with people who are on the terrorist list having access to guns when they consistently say after the shooting in Florida, the only thing they wanted to talk about was terrorism, well you would certainly think if you’re going to talk about terrorism, the first thing you want to do is to make sure terrorists don’t have access to weapons of mass destruction.”
“And what happened in Orlando was certainly that,” Bass claimed.
According to the FBI, a weapon of mass destruction is:
“Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are defined in U.S. law (18 USC §2332a) as:
1. Any explosive (see below list), incendiary, or poison gas;
– Bomb
– Grenade
– Rocket having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than four ounces,
– Missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce,
– Mine, or;
– Device similar to any of the devices described above;2. Any weapons that is designed or intend to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;
3. Any weapon involving a disease organism;
4. Any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life
WMD is often referred to by the collection of modalities that make up the set of weapons: chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive. These are weapons that have a relatively large-scale impact on people, property, and/or infrastructure.