Reply #8: What is your justification for this, though?

[derby378]

Far more Americans have been killed by the criminal misuse of handguns than by rifles or shotguns of any kind.

As for registering automatic weapons, that's been done since the National Firearms Act of 1934. The 80's legislation you speak of halted all new sales of automatic weapons to civilians, just like the 1994 ban on semi-automatics. Google "Firearms Owners Protection Act" for more information.

You say that the next ban should be more than a cosmetic ban. What sort of functionality would you want a new ban to address?