The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law in 1973 by President Richard Nixon to preserve, protect and recover key domestic species. Though well intentioned at the start, the ESA has since been used as a tool to hinder or block economic activity from logging and farming to mining and oil-and-gas development—often to protect species that don’t truly need it.

At a Capitol Hill press conference today, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced the introduction of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. The bill would prohibit the sale, transfer, importation, and…