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SALT LAKE CITY — Gun rights activists are taking aim at the proposed assault weapons ban in Washington, now pointing out a number of inconsistencies in the measure.

Among them: under the ban, the very same gun is at the same time legal and illegal, depending on whether or not it has a folding stock.

Under the measure — introduced last month by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. — a Ruger Mini-14 with a fixed stock would be among the 2,200 firearms exempted from the ban. A Ruger Mini-14 with a folding or collapsible stock would be outlawed — one of 157 banned guns.

"There is no common sense to this approach, but yet it is consistent with this administration and Dianne Feinstein even prior to this administration on banning firearms because they look scary," said Utah Shooting Sports Council chair Clark Aposhian.

Aposhian owns both versions of the Ruger Mini-14, and maintained one was not more dangerous than the other.

"What a joke," said former FBI agent John Hanlon in an Associated Press interview.

I think it comes down to a list of guns that are viewed as having a higher potential for greater violence. –Maryann Martindale, Executive Director for Alliance for a Better Utah

Hanlon survived a 1986 shootout in Miami, where he was shot in the head, hand, groin and hip with a Ruger Mini-14 that had a folding stock. Both the Ruger with the folding stock and the one with the stationary stock are capable of taking magazines filled with dozens of rounds of ammunition.

"I can't imagine what the difference is," Hanlon said.

Feinstein said in a written response to questions from The Associated Press that the list of more than 2,200 exempted firearms was designed to "make crystal clear" that the bill would not affect hunting and sporting weapons.

Alliance for a Better Utah executive director Maryann Martindale acknowledged the inconsistencies in the proposed legislation, while balking at the idea any of the weapons were banned simply because they looked "scary."

"I think it comes down to a list of guns that are viewed as having a higher potential for greater violence," she said.

Advocates in favor of more control across the country subscribe generally to the idea additional features like a pistol grip, a flash hider or even a folding stock are geared toward a military use of the weapons and make the guns more dangerous.

Feinstein's proposal is the only comprehensive piece of legislation under consideration that is designed to ban so-called "assault weapons."

Aposhian said the measure's approach capitalizes on the public's lack of understanding of certain types of guns.

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"These firearms are no more or less effective depending on the stock they have," Aposhian said. "These firearms — I don't care if they have a straight stock or a folding stock or a collapsing stock — are not the ones that are typically used in crime."

Feinstein was behind the 1994 law which, at the time, protected more than 600 firearms. The current bill would exempt by name and model more than 2,200 firearms.

Feinstein said her staff had worked for more than a year to draft updates for the ban that expired in 2004, and it was apparent in the wake of recent mass shootings that now was the time to introduce a new bill. She said her staff consulted with law enforcement agencies and policy experts for months to create the expanded list.

Kristen Rand, the legislative director at the Washington-based Violence Policy Center, said the Ruger Mini-14 model that would be banned under Feinstein's legislation is easier to hold while firing because it has a pistol grip, and it's easier to hide because it has a collapsible stock.

That's what makes it more dangerous that the Ruger Mini-14 with the fixed stock which would be exempted under the Feinstein bill, she said.

Despite the inconsistencies in which guns are banned and which ones are not, Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah board of directors member Gary Sackett said some attempt at gun control is better than the alternative.

"I can say that some attempt to limit the types of military-style weapons available to civilians is better than wringing one's hands and doing nothing because there is no perfect description that satisfies everyone," Sackett wrote in an emailed response to a request for an interview. "There are some very good minds on the staff personnel for the members of Congress, and they should be able to sort out any inconsistencies that are brought to their attention. The important thing is to make some progress on this issue."

Martindale said a better option to Feinstein's legislation wasn't likely to surface with the current divide.

"If (the two sides) could have a reasonable conversation in a room, maybe we would have the right list of guns on the table," she said.

Contributing: Associated Press

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