46.00 I don't know if they will have a full on ('big quotes') "assault ban" next year...but that is the likely place to start. Kinda funny as handguns are really the man killers of choice...they serve little other purpose then that. Yes it is fun to hunt with a big bore handgun with optics on it but it is not a necessity by any means. I remember the last assault rifle ban by the feds, basically it severely limited clip size I could get legally in a store, it did nothing to stop private sale and I could get 30rd stacks all day long with little effort.
I completely agree that what you said, it is the agenda of a certain political segment here in the US. I also completely agree that they can only achieve anything by piecemeal, little by little. If it was declared for citizens to turn in their weapons and they went around trying to collect registered firearms (probably only about 5% of total), you would have some colorful news to watch over there because it would become almost Syria here overnight.
No matter what they put on paper, they lack the CONVICTION and the resources to implement what is on the paper, just like the drug war. Which in the end is just sad and a complete failure of the government to do its obligation and fill its "charter" to the citizens who make its existence possible.
I am by no means a gun nut/survivalist type person, sorry for the stereotype but it makes it simpler. I am just a realist, and the gun control argument is just stupid because it has no logical thinking behind it. At least none that I can wrap my head around.