Since Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) revealed a plan to introduce legislation banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, members of the right-wing media have launched hysterical, and often false, attacks against her proposal to crack down on weapons like the one used in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.

Breitbart.com: Sen. Feinstein's “Real Goal Is To Ban Handguns”

In two December 27 pieces published on Brietbart.com, contributor AWR Hawkins grossly exaggerated the scope of Feinstein's legislative proposal to suggest that the assault weapons ban would require that all firearms be registered with the government and claim that “the details of Senator Dianne Feinstein's pending assault weapons ban show that her real goal is to ban handguns.”

Sen. Feinstein's actual proposal allows current owners of assault weapons to keep their firearms so long as the owner fulfills a registration requirement and includes no mandate to register firearms that are not assault weapons. While the proposed ban would cover some handguns with military characteristics, Hawkins' claim that the legislation would lead to a general handgun ban is based on the speculation “that as soon as a public crime is committed with a double-action revolver, Feinstein and Co. will try to add those to the list as well.”

But an even bigger problem lurks -- right now the focus is only on “assault weapons” and semi-auto handguns, however, as soon as a public crime is committed with a double-action revolver, Feinstein and Co. will try to add those to the list as well.

The bottom line: If we are foolish enough to embrace a ban on any weapon in the coming Congress then we are unwittingly embracing a ban on every weapon. 

Hawkins repeated these claims on National Rifle Association News, calling the proposed assault weapons ban “garbage” and “anti-freedom to the core.”

Pavlich: Proposed Ban Covers “Nearly Every Semi-Automatic Handgun In The U.S.”

On December 28, Townhall news editor Katie Pavlich offered a similar faulty analysis, inaccurately claiming that the proposed ban covers "[n]early every semi-automatic handgun in the United States." The proposal actually calls for restricting handguns that “can accept a detachable magazine and have one or more military characteristics,” but according to Pavlich's logic, “any weapon can be used to assault someone, which is why Feinstein has been able to throw handguns and shotguns into her new assault weapons ban.” Pavlich concluded her column by writing, “The wolves are at the door.”

Breitbart.com Stokes Fears That “Government Will Use The Military To Forcibly Disarm The Public”

Gateway Pundit blogger Jim Hoft and Breitbart.com columnist Warner Todd Huston both promoted a letter in opposition to Sen. Feinstein's proposal written by retired Marine Corporal Joshua Boston who stated, “I will not register my weapons should this bill be passed” and “I will not have some woman who proclaims the evil of an inanimate object, yet carries one, tell me I may not have one.”

Huston also interviewed Cpl. Boston, fearmongering about the prospect of the government using the military to confiscate privately held firearms:

WTH [Warner Todd Huston]: Some people fear that government will use the military to forcibly disarm the public if gun banning laws get passed. What is your sense of your fellows in the armed forces. Do you think they'd follow orders to forcibly disarm the public?

American Thinker: Proposed Ban Would “Light Revolutionary Fervor In A Nation And Its Citizens”

Writing for American Thinker on January 2, Alan P. Halbert went a step further, stating that the enactment of Sen. Feinstein's proposal would cause “the end of the Republic” and constitute grounds for insurrection against the federal government:

The Second Amendment's purpose is to provide for the citizens' defense from all who would deny their natural God- given right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” against a criminal, a foreign or domestic enemy, or our own government. We will witness the end of the Republic if this proposed legislation is passed, since all of our rights flow from the citizen's ability to defend them.

As for this citizen, I will never disarm or surrender my Second Amendment rights, much less willingly comply with such a traitorous act of Congress if enacted... it is actions like these that light revolutionary fervor in a nation and its citizens. It did so in 1776 and it will do so again.

The Daily Caller: “We Need Your Guns ... Comrade”

Conservative website The Daily Caller issued a January 2 “alert” on its "Guns and Gear" page that stated, “We need your fingerprints, your photo, your papers and your guns Comrade.”