Here's an update from Sen Feinstein's site, apparently posted on Dec 27.
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/ ... lt-weapons" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's a great deal more detail now on her proposal than there was before. It would require grandfathered semi-auto firearms to be registered with the ATF under the provisions of the National Firearms Act. In effect it would treat semi-automatic versions of a weapon as severely as the full auto versions. In one respect it would more severely restrict semi-auto weapons than full-auto versions of the same firearm: full auto versions can be passed on to heirs or otherwise legally transferred, and semi-auto versions could not. It would reduce the "two-feature " test of the old ban to only one feature necessary to ban a firearm. According to the NRA-ILA site (I did not see a specific reference to them on Feinstein's site), it would specifically ban the M1 Carbine, Ruger Mini-14 and all versions of the Soviet-designed SKS, which were not banned under the '94-'04 Federal ban. The ban on detachable magazines capable of holding over 10 rds would, according to NRA-ILA, require the owner to prove he possessed that magazine before the ban took effect, whereas the previous ban required the government to prove that the magazine was not grandfathered. There was no mention of a sunset provision for this proposed ban.
This is more extensive than the '94-'04 ban, and seems less likely to make it through the legislative processes than a simple re-introduction of the previous ban, which itself probably would have been difficult to turn into law. Having said that, i sent NRA-ILA a donation today.
There is hope. This new proposal will thrill the hard core gun banners on the far left of the Democratic Party(maybe that's its purpose), who frequently complain that their party doesn't do enough on the issue, but I'm guessing it won't be popular, especially in its proposed form, with Dem Senators from purple states(Manchin, Tester, Donnelly, Casey, Baucus, Warner, etc). My guess is that even Harry Reid isn't happy about this bill(Nevada is a purple state). I'm not sure any of the GOP Senators would support it, except possibly Collins. To break a GOP filibuster(can you imagine Senators Paul, Cruz, Johnson, Rubio, Scott, or Lee not filibustering this?), Dems would need all their caucus members plus about three GOP defectors to vote for cloture, and thus bring it to a vote on the Senate floor. That's a tall order.
It's also difficult for me to envision a scenario where any recognizable version of this proposal could even come to the floor in the House, given present realities of how GOP Representatives get re-elected, which is by protecting their right flanks against primary challengers.