HR1022

That's the title of a new bill introduced in Congress. It's a reinstatement of the 1994 assault weapons ban (and some!) that the Republican - controlled Congress allowed to expire in 2004. Well, the Democrats own the house now, so its a different ballgame.
Here's the stated purpose:
"to reauthorize the assault weapons ban, and for other purposes." (emphasis mine)

Those "other purposes" include:

All semi-automatic shotguns.
All semi-automatic rifles exempted by the original AWB, including - but not limited to - Springfield M1, Ruger Mini 14 and Mini 30, M1 carbine, Ruger 10/22 (!) and all the semi-autos that were manufactured to comply with the original AWB.
65 specifically named guns (compared to the original's 19 named guns).
There's more, that I'm not going to bother stating here, except for the most important difference:
This ban would be permanent. No 10 year sunset on this one, folks.

And you know what? This is our fault. Our nation's "throw the bums out" mentality that resulted in the change of power in Congress in '06 has directly led to this. Democrats feel that the nation has handed them a mandate, which is patently obvious in the rhetoric coming out of Washington lately.
However, rather than focus on self-flagellation, let's look at the positive...
The Internet, now much more than in 1994, is an incredible tool to spread news and focus interest on important issues. (Witness the nuking of Jim Zumbo last week). More people can hear about this nonsense, and faster. The sooner we know, the sooner we can act.
The 1994 Republican Revolution was in part a result of the original AWB. We're mindful of this; we can hope (or help remind them) that the current Congress is too. I am hopeful that many of our representatives are aware that a yes vote on this is tantamount to political suicide.

Of course, we can balance that hope with action. We should write our representatives and let them know what the consequences of an "aye" vote on HR1022 will mean for them personally. Bottom line: if they won't work to preserve our rights, we'll vote someone in who will.

What else can we do? Take a newbie to the range. Dispel the media-enforced notions of gun owners as hicks, rednecks or outright lunatics. Become an ambassador for the Second Amendment. Get them on our side.

Believe me, everyone, whether they realize it right now or not, needs to see this bill go down in flames, because it's implications for the future of personal liberty in this country are appalling.