The Obama Administration will seek to reinstate the "assault weapons" ban, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today. Good for them. It looks like they really do want to guarantee a Republican takeover of Congress in 2010. Democrats never seem to learn that Americans will vote on the firearms issue, and not in favor of Democrats either.

Of course, no media outlet will tell you this, but assault weapons are really just rifles that have clips to shoot more than one round at a time. Any automatic weapon already requires an expensive federal license and a thorough background check. So pistols, which can shoot numerous rounds, are OK, but unwieldy rifles that can do the same thing (but look "scary"), are grounds for banning.

Then, there is the issue of countries which have banned firearms this decade, among them the UK and Australia. Both have experienced a dramatic and sustained increase in violent crime. Banning guns only helps the criminals, not the law-abiding citizens.