Friday Flashback: What is a Barrel Shroud?

Hint: it's not "the shoulder thing that goes up."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rGpykAX1fo

A barrel shroud is a piece that surrounds the barrel of a firearm. It's primary purpose is to provide a cooler surface which the person using the firearm can hold to stabilize the firearm. Not only does this feature have no impact on the lethality of the firearm, the definition in the legislation was written so poorly, it could have been construed to include handgun slides.

More importantly, this video demonstrates that the lawmaker crafting the legislation was flying blind, and lacked even the most elementary understanding of the very thing she sought to regulate.

Rep Carolyn McCarthy, the ignorant legislator in the video, continues to serve in Congress. She has been re-elected three times by New Yorkers since this incident. McCarthy was first elected to the US House in 1997.