The KSG isn't semi-auto. It's a pump shotgun, so the "assault weapon" laws don't apply.
Also, the "high capacity magazine" laws are different than the "assault weapon" laws. Many states retained the high-cap restrictions while dropping many of the other restrictions of the Assault Weapons Ban, specifically due to criticisms that many of the AWB restrictions were based on how dangerous weapons looked, rather on how they actually functioned.
Folding stocks? Pistol grips? Magazine positioning? Semi-auto weapons that merely LOOKED like an existing automatic weapon? How do these things actually make a weapon more deadly?
I recall a shotgun that the manufacturers modified so the pistol grip now had a thin strip of plastic running from the bottom of the grip back to the stock (and as such was no longer classified as a "pistol grip"). Magically, this somehow made the weapon less dangerous.
-k
I'm completely in agreement with you. My reasoning comes from working with the police in CA and having a lot of friendly arguments with lawyers. The thing I heard constantly was that gun laws are as clear as mud. When I quit working with the police I had to refit my remi 870 6+1 18" barrel and pistol grip/stock combo back to a normal stock with an 18.5" barrel so that it wouldn't be considered an 'assault weapon.' For some dumb reason the law doesn't differentiate pump-action as something different than semi-auto (lawyer speak apparently).
For the states that are against 2nd amendment rights laws are still in favor of banning and/or limiting 'scary' weapons, knives included. The five states in question are not friendly to weapon owners and they are examples of worst-case scenarios with scare tactics and the like. NY is now shaking down all businesses that sell folding knives that lock, and knives that can be opened one handed, with a several thousand dollar fine. They've arrested hundreds on felony charges for possession of said knives, by stopping everyone with pocket clips (profiling in the most obnoxious and legal way). Firearm laws there are on par with the previous AWB. CA took the AWB a step further in nearly every way and they pass new restrictions every year. The selection of weapons is limited very limited. The amount of weapons seized every year is extremely high, and they all sadly get the chopped in half treatment. They just passed a thing where all firearms must have a unique stamp on the hammer/firing pin (almost RFID ammo in practice). They also passed a law that requires a thumb-print with each purchase of ammo that's kept on record for five years, until it was recently overturned as being unconstitutional. The list of weapons you can't bring into that state is obnoxiously long. The weapons that were in the state before there laws passed had to be retrofitted to fit the law, unless you have an off the books weapon (usually personal weapons brought in by military personnel leaving the service)...
Those two states are always in the forefront of the news involving
Knife Rights and the
NRA, and pasted all over
Soldier of Fortune when I occasionally poke around their site (not even mentioning all the magazines that cover all legal who-has in the weapon world). I don't care for the nut jobs that try to convince everyone that inanimate, not free-willed objects kill people to get political currency and then pass laws to reflect the nonsense (and then expect law enforcement to be the bad guys). I love living in AZ (outta the 17 states I've lived in now)! I can visibly or conceal carry (without a permit) almost anywhere and when I call 911 when someones attempting to break in and the operator says "shoot 'em" I'm glad to have that option if I need it (and it's happened)!!!
That's my rant (a couple days of no sleep gets me ranting, sorry)... I'll leave the politics alone now, but I just wanted to say I understand where you're coming from.
