I had thought we were basically discussing the assault weapons ban along with the dual nature of any gun control here . . . just to clarify. I'd also like to comment that suggesting that there is any kind of unified left of an overriding liberal movement is pretty hilarious. Also, those of you citing democrats like our favorite crazy lady from California are looking to the far side of the spectrum. Senator Daschle and many other centrist or moderate democrats have voted for many laws ot portect gun dealers and sportsmen. They, like all intelligent people, realize that compromise is necessary, and are able to objectively look at the reality of the situation. They also aren't heavily bought out by the gun lobby, which helps, but they've stepped up to the plate in regard to supporting responsible gun ownership and manufacture. Part of it is politically motivated as well - people are generally so 'up in arms' about their guns that they simply won't vote for anybody who has ever supported gun control.
And about the constiutional business - what I have been trying to express over and over is that there are obvious restrictions on teh 2nd ammendment already. We ARE arguing over the degree. Therefore, this bullocks talk about "enemies of America" and such for trying to restrict the 2nd ammendment in different ways is fairly absurd. Now take the Ruger out of your lap and have a look at this, since it seems some of you are wanting a little bit more comprehensive info than my personal opinion.
Q: What is the status of the federal assault weapons ban?
A: The federal law banning the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons, known as the federal assault weapons ban, was passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. President Clinton signed it into law on September 13, 1994.
However, the assault weapons ban will expire ("sunset") in September 2004 unless Congress and President George W. Bush renew it. That means that AK47s and other semi-automatic assault weapons could begin flooding our streets again, as the weapons of choice of gang members, drug dealers and other dangerous criminals.
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Q: What are the provisions of the ban?
A: On September 13, 1994, domestic gun manufacturers were required to stop production of semi-automatic assault weapons and ammunition clips holding more than 10 rounds except for military or police use. Imports of assault weapons not already banned by administrative action under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush were also halted. Assault weapons and ammunition clips holding more than 10 rounds produced prior to September 13, 1994, were "grandfathered" in under the law and can still be possessed and sold.
The bill bans, by name, the manufacture of 19 different weapons:
* Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all models);
* Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil;
* Beretta Ar70 (SC-70);
* Colt AR-15;
* Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC;
* SWD M-10; M-11; M-11/9, and M-12;
* Steyr AUG;
* INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9, AND TEC-22;
* revolving cylinder shotguns such as (or similar to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12.
The bill also bans "copies" or "duplicates" of any of those weapons. The failure to include a ban of these "copies" or "duplicates" would have opened the door for widespread evasion of the ban. Even so, some unscrupulous gun manufacturers have tried to evade the law by making minor changes to their assault weapons in order to skirt the restrictions.
The 1994 law also prohibits manufacturers from producing firearms with more than one of the following assault weapon features:
Rifles
* Folding/telescoping stock
* Protruding pistol grip
* Bayonet mount
* Threaded muzzle or flash suppressor
* Grenade launcher
Pistols
* Magazine outside grip
* Threaded muzzle
* Barrel shroud
* Unloaded weight of 50 ounces or more
* Semi-automatic version of a fully automatic weapon
Shotguns
* Folding/telescoping stock
* Protruding pistol grip
* Detachable magazine capacity
* Fixed magazine capacity greater than 5 rounds
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Q: Does the law ban all semi-automatic guns? Does it affect hunting rifles and shotguns?
A: No. The definition of an assault weapon is tightly drawn. Only semi-automatic guns with multiple assault weapon features are banned (see below). Traditional guns designed for use in hunting and recreational activities are not affected. To alleviate concerns that hunting weapons somehow might be affected, the law provides specific protection to 670 types of hunting rifles and shotguns that are presently being manufactured. The list is not exhaustive and a gun does not have to be on the list to be protected. Again, the only weapons that are prohibited are those with multiple assault weapon features.
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Q: What does the NRA think about the federal assault weapon ban?
A: In 1996, the NRA pushed the U.S. House of Representatives to vote to repeal the ban, but the Senate refused to follow suit. In 2002, the NRA has listed opposition to renewal of the law as one of its criteria on its 2002 election candidate questionnaire. The NRA continues to try to gut the current law and prevent its reauthorization.
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Q: What have the courts said about the federal assault weapons ban?
A: The law has been challenged in court by the extremist gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), which fought against passage of the assault weapons ban in 1994 and continues to oppose it to this day. However, federal courts have rejected these legal challenges.
In October 2000, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge brought by notorious assault weapon manufacturer Navegar, Inc., after the case had been dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The Circuit Court had rejected Navegar's arguments that the statute exceeded the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce and constituted an unconstitutional bill of attainder. The NRA brought its own lawsuit against the statute in Michigan federal court, but was dismissed by the court for lack of standing to sue. Assault weapon maker Olympic Arms continued the suit, which was dismissed by a federal judge in March of 2000. The appeal, argued by an NRA attorney, was heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in April of 2002.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, representing itself as well as several public health and law enforcement organizations, filed amicus curiae briefs in both cases supporting the statute.
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Q: What is the difference between semi-automatic hunting rifles and semi-automatic assault weapons?
A: Sporting rifles and assault weapons are two distinct classes of firearms. While semi-automatic hunting rifles are designed to be fired from the shoulder and depend upon the accuracy of a precisely aimed projectile, semi-automatic assault weapons are designed to maximize lethal effects through a rapid rate of fire. Assault weapons are designed to be spray-fired from the hip, and because of their design, a shooter can maintain control of the weapon even while firing many rounds in rapid succession.
Opponents of the ban argue that such weapons only "look scary." However, because they were designed for military purposes, assault weapons are equipped with combat hardware, such as silencers, folding stocks and bayonets, which are not found on sporting guns. Assault weapons are also designed for rapid-fire and many come equipped with large ammunition magazines allowing 50 more bullets to be fired without reloading. So there is a good reason why these features on high-powered weapons should frighten the public.
Assault weapons are commonly equipped with some or all of the following combat features:
* A large-capacity ammunition magazine, enabling the shooter to continuously fire dozens of rounds without reloading. Standard hunting rifles are usually equipped with no more than 3 or 4-shot magazines.
* A folding stock on a rifle or shotgun, which sacrifices accuracy for concealability and for mobility in close combat.
* A pistol grip on a rifle or shotgun, which facilitates firing from the hip, allowing the shooter to spray-fire the weapon. A pistol grip also helps the shooter stabilize the firearm during rapid fire and makes it easier to shoot assault rifles one-handed.
* A barrel shroud, which is designed to cool the barrel so the firearm can shoot many rounds in rapid succession without overheating. It also allows the shooter to grasp the barrel area to stabilize the weapon, without incurring serious burns, during rapid fire.
* A threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, which serves no useful sporting purpose. The flash suppressor allows the shooter to remain concealed when shooting at night, an advantage in combat but unnecessary for hunting or sporting purposes. In addition, the flash suppressor is useful for providing stability during rapid fire, helping the shooter maintain control of the firearm.
* A threaded barrel designed to accommodate a silencer, which is useful to assassins but clearly has no purpose for sportsmen. Silencers are illegal so there is no legitimate purpose for making it possible to put a silencer on a weapon.
* A barrel mount designed to accommodate a bayonet, which obviously serves no sporting purpose.
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Q: What is the difference between an automatic and a semi-automatic weapon?
A: An automatic weapon (machine gun) will continue to fire as long as the trigger is depressed (or until the ammunition magazine is emptied). A semi-automatic weapon will fire one round and instantly load the next round with each pull of the trigger. Semi-automatic firearms fire as rapidly as you can twitch your finger. This means that a semi-automatic fires a little more slowly than an automatic, but not much more slowly. When San Jose, California police test-fired an UZI, a 30-round magazine was emptied in slightly less than two seconds on full automatic while the same magazine was emptied in just five seconds on semi-automatic.
Ownership of machine guns has been tightly controlled since passage of the National Firearms Act of 1934, and their manufacture for the civilian market was halted in 1986. However, semi-automatic versions of those same guns were still being produced until the federal assault weapons ban was enacted.
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Q: Why does the gun lobby say that there is no such thing as a semi-automatic assault weapon?
A: Playing word games, the NRA/gun lobby often claims that semi-automatic assault weapons don't exist because the term "assault weapons" only means fully automatic weapons (machine guns - see above). Law enforcement groups disagree with the NRA on this, as did Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and Congress. Even the gun industry disagrees with the NRA and uses the term "assault weapons" to refer to semi-automatic, military-style weapons. In 1986, Gun Digest, considered by many to be the Bible of the gun industry, first published a book entitled, The Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons. Here is what they had to say about a few of the weapons they test-fired for their second edition:
"The Cobray M11/Nine bears a striking resemblance to the Ingram M11 suBathmateachine gun, because it is basically the same gun. Current manufacture is made in semi-auto."
"[The Spectre], now being produced by F.I.E., is a semi-automatic clone of the Spectre suBathmateachine gun that is being manufactured in Italy....If you can't have the steak, you can still have the sizzle."
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Q: Does the law require the confiscation of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines that were lawfully possessed prior to the date of enactment?
A: No. The law bans the manufacture and importation of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as of September 13, 1994. Existing weapons and magazines are "grandfathered," meaning that such items lawfully possessed prior to the bill's effective date may be retained, sold or transferred to anyone who is legally entitled to own a firearm.
In the months leading up to passage of the ban, gun manufacturers, eager to exploit the impending "endangered" status of these firearms, boosted their production of assault weapons by more than 120% and raised prices by an average of 50%. For example, production of the AR-15 increased by 70% over previous years, from 38,511 to 66,042, and production of Intratec assault pistols tripled, from 33,578 to 102,682. At the same time, prices for the AR-15 and its duplicates more than doubled, while prices for unbanned pistols remained virtually constant. Once the ban took effect, prices fell back to 1992 levels.[1]
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Q: Do grandfathered weapons have to be registered with law enforcement?
A: No. There is no requirement that grandfathered weapons be registered. Nor are there any record-keeping requirements.
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Q: What action had been taken on assault weapons prior to 1994?
A: Prior to passage of the federal assault weapons ban, the importation of certain types of assault weapons from overseas had been banned during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations. Such bans were ordered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) under the 1968 Gun Control Act, which grants the ATF the power to prevent the importation of guns which are not "particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes."
Under the Reagan Administration, the ATF blocked the importation of certain models of shotguns that were not suitable for sporting purposes. In 1989, during the George H.W. Bush Administration, the ATF expanded this list to permanently ban the importation of 43 types of semi-automatic assault rifles that were also determined not to have a sporting purpose.
Later, in 1998, President Clinton banned the importation of 58 additional foreign-made "copycat" assault weapons in order to close a loophole in the prior import ban.
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Q: Does law enforcement support the ban on assault weapons?
A: Every major national law enforcement organization in the country supported the federal assault weapons ban and worked for its passage. Among the many law enforcement organization that supported the ban are the Law Enforcement Steering Committee, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Sheriffs' Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Major City Chiefs Association, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the National Association of Police Organizations, the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, the National Black Police Association, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the Police Executive Research Forum, and the Police Foundation.
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Q: Why did police support the ban so strongly?
A: While there are no exact numbers of assault weapon incidents, police across America in the 1980s reported that semi-automatic assault weapons had become the "weapon of choice" for drug traffickers, gangs and paramilitary extremist groups.
Law enforcement officers are at particular risk from these weapons because of their high firepower and ability to penetrate body armor. In addition, limiting civilian access to such weapons lessens the need for law enforcement to carry assault weapons themselves in order to match the firepower capability that criminals with assault weapons would have. Law enforcement officers do not want to have to carry M-16s as their standard service weapon. In 1997, after a North Hollywood, CA shootout in which police were outgunned by two men with assault weapons, Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police stated
An AK-47 fires a military round. In a conventional home with dry-wall walls, I wouldn't be surprised if it went through six of them...Police are armed with weapons that are effective with criminals in line of sight. They don't want and don't need weapons that would harm innocent bystanders.[2]
Ray Kelly, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for enforcement at the time, noted that police departments have specially trained officers who use high-powered weapons. "It takes a lot of training to be proficient at it," he said. "I don't think you can issue high-powered weapons to every patrol officer."[3]
Prior to the ban's passage, assault rifles were used to kill and injure dozens of innocent people in some particularly heinous crimes, including:
*
The Stockton schoolyard massacre - On January 17, 1989, Patrick Purdy killed 5 small children, and wounded 29 others and 1 teacher at the Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, using a semi-automatic version of the AK-47 assault rifle imported from China. That weapon had been purchased from a gun dealer in Oregon and was equipped with a 75-round "drum" magazine. Purdy shot 106 rounds in less than 2 minutes.[4]
*
The San Francisco Pettit & Martin shootings - On July 1, 1993, Gian Luigi Ferri killed 8 people and wounded 6 others at the San Francisco law offices of Pettit & Martin and other offices at 101 California Street. Ferri used two TEC-DC9 assault pistols with 50-round magazines. These weapons had been purchased from a pawnshop and a gun show in Nevada.[5]
*
The CIA headquarters shootings - On January 25, 1993, Pakistani national Mir Aimal Kasi killed 2 CIA employees and wounded 3 others outside the entrance to CIA headquarters in Langley, VA. Kasi used a Chinese-made semi-automatic AK-47 assault rifle equipped with a 30-round magazine, purchased from a Northern Virginia gun store.[6]
*
The Branch-Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas - On February 28, 1993, while attempting to serve federal search and arrest warrants at the Branch-Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, four ATF special agents were killed and 16 others were wounded with an arsenal of assault weapons. According to a federal affidavit, the cult had accumulated at least the following assault weapons: 123 AR-15s, 44 AK-47s, 2 Barrett .50 calibers, 2 Street Sweepers, an unknown number of MAC-10 and MAC-11s, 20 100-round drum magazines, and 260 large-capacity banana clips. The weapons were bought legally from gun dealers and at gun shows.[7]
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Q: Does the ban on assault weapons affect the use of these weapons by the military or police?
A: No. Assault weapons may be legally produced for use by law enforcement agencies and the military. High-capacity magazines produced for police or military must have an identifying serial number.
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Q: Does the ban reduce the use of assault weapons in crime?
A: Yes. As more and more assault weapons are confiscated from crime scenes, fewer and fewer criminals and juveniles will have access to these deadly killing machines. And, in fact, there is evidence that the ban has worked.
Gun traces are one of the best measures of gun usage in crime. In 1999, the National Institute of Justice reported that trace requests for assault weapons in the 1993-95 period declined 20% in the first calendar year after the ban took effect, dropping from 4,077 in 1994 to 3,268 in 1995. Over the same time period, gun murders declined only 10% and trace requests for all types of guns declined 11 percent, clearly showing a greater decrease in the number of assault weapons traced in crime.[8]
This same study also reported that the number of assault weapons traced in St. Louis and Boston declined 29% and 24% respectively, as a share of all guns recovered in crime, during late 1995 and into 1996.
In addition, a study by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence) found that, in Maryland, whose ban on assault pistols took effect in June 1994, the number of assault pistols recovered by Baltimore police in the first six months of 1995 fell by 45 percent from the first six months of 1994.[9]
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Q: Why should the federal assault weapons ban be renewed?
A: Even with the success of the ban, assault weapons still pose a threat to the safety of all Americans, and particularly to law enforcement officers. Tens of thousands of "grandfathered" assault weapons are still in circulation, and thousands more will go into circulation if the ban is not renewed and gun manufacturers begin producing and selling them again. As one leading law enforcement executive put it, the weapons banned by the 1994 law are nothing more than "cop-killer guns."
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Q: What states have their own assault weapons bans?
A: Seven states - California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York - have state assault weapons bans.
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History of State Assault Weapons Bans
*
2000 *
New York - The law established criminal sanctions for the possession and sale of assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices, mirroring the federal law. It made it a felony to possess or sell an assault weapon or large-capacity ammunition magazine that was manufactured after the federal law took effect.
*
1999
*
California - California strengthened its 1989 ban on semi-automatic assault weapons by expanding the list of prohibited weapons to include weapons with specific military characteristics like pistol grips and folding stocks. California also restricted the sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
*
1998
*
Massachusetts - The law restricted sale and possession of semi-automatic assault weapons and required a special license for anyone seeking to acquire an assault weapon, a large capacity weapon or a large capacity ammunition magazine.
*
1994 *
Maryland - The law bans 16 types of assault pistols and also restricts ammunition magazines that hold over 20 rounds. The bill prohibits possession, sale, transfer purchase or receipt of assault pistols within the state.
*
1993
*
Connecticut - This was the fourth law to ban semi-automatic assault weapons. The bill bans the future sale of 63 types of military-style weapons, including the Connecticut-made Colt "Sporter" assault rifle. Challenged in State Court by the NRA, the ban was upheld as constitutional on June 30, 1994.
*
1991
*
Hawaii - Capping a two-year effort, the legislature passed a landmark bill banning assault pistols and pistol ammunition magazines which hold more than ten rounds. This was the first state law to use a generic definition of assault weapons and its magazine ban was the most restrictive in the nation.
*
1990
*
New Jersey - This law not only banned a more comprehensive list of assault weapons than the California law, it also banned large-capacity ammunition magazines (over 15). The law included a list and prohibited firearms that were substantially identical to the list. Any "assault firearm" had to be registered, licensed or rendered inoperable by May 30, 1991 or it would be considered contraband. (Note: The NRA has tried desperately to overturn the New Jersey law. In 1993, it looked like the NRA might win when the Assembly overrode the Governor's veto of the NRA's repealer bill. When the vote was finally taken, not one Senator voted for the NRA bill.)
*
1989
*
California - The first assault weapon ban passed in the nation was the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapon Act, which banned the future sale of a specific list of assault weapons in California. This law was upheld as constitutional in federal court against an NRA challenge and the NRA did not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The law also was upheld against several other state and federal legal challenges.
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Endnotes
1. Roth, JA, Koper, CS, "Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban: 1994-96," National Institute of Justice Research in Brief, U.S. Department of Justice, March 1999.
2. "Police fear a future of armored enemies," USA Today, March 3, 1997.
3. Ibid.
4. "School Killer's Last Days" and "The Kinds of Guns School Killer Used," San Francisco Chronicle, January 19, 1989.
5. "Ferri used guns that California ban does not forbid," San Francisco Examiner, July 4, 1993.
6. "CIA Killings Prompt Scrutiny on 2 Fronts; Fairfax Loophole Expedited Gun Purchase," Washington Post, February 11, 1993.
7. "CIA Killings Prompt Scrutiny on 2 Fronts; Fairfax Loophole Expedited Gun Purchase," Washington Post, February 11, 1993.
8. Roth, JA, Koper, CS, "Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban: 1994-96," National Institute of Justice Research in Brief, U.S. Department of Justice, March 1999.
9. "The Maryland Ban on the Sale of Assault Pistols and High-Capacity Magazines: Estimating the Impact in Baltimore," American Journal of Public Health, February 1997, Vol. 87. No 2.
Notice the great pains taken to keep your sporting arms legal? I suppose some of you are still attempting to say you could somehow rise up against the American government (traitors?), but uh, since others amongst us live in reality, what else do you need your weapons for besides home defense? Do you an need an uzi or a bayonet hook for that? Doubtful. So what is so wrong with the assault weapons ban?
Also, empathize with police officers. Would you feel safer in your job knowing that automatic weapons are on teh streets? The much discussed grenade launchers? Also, not many of us here are from communities plagued by gang and drug violence. But millions of Americans are. Inevitably certain sectors of society are going to feel the effects of something like less gun control more severely.
I guess when it comes down to it the only people I hear really making an argument here are identified Conservatives, socially and politically, who already own guns I'm guessing? So far the closest thing to a solid point any of you have made on the topic is "the founders intended for us to have guns in case the government became a tyrany, giving the people the power to overthrow." Anybody with a brain knows this cannot and will not be a modern scenario, and if you think it can I would be thrilled to hear just exactly how you think that will play out, and under what circumstances. Just like we don't really need the clauses in the constiution that specifically deal with things like "piracy on the high seas" and the various other outdated segments we more or less ignore because they are meaningless in the modern world, so is this "revolutionary" argument for the 2nd ammendment.
If nobody wants to take away your sporting arms or protection pieces (despite what a few politicians may say the political reality of this is almsot zero; we're a gun loving big time hunting country), then what is the danger of gun control? Why are you so adament about this issue and not other potential violations of the constitution? There are many going on, even as we speak. If compromising the document in any way is a danger for our nation, why aren't you all furious with the military and Bush administration? The standards trumpeted by the NRA and other gun lobbies, from which I believe many of you share sentiments, are ludicrously off base, both historically and factually.
One more point, gun control has always made provisions for the 'grandfathering' of arms that are banned but already in circulation. Your pistol grips are safe gentlemen . . . the people that run the government are actually often quite intelligent, and they realize that it is impossible to just round up every banned arm out there.
Now, if any of you want to go on believing that you and your buddies can take on the US military with your guns and overthrow the federal government if things get a little dodgy up there, please go right ahead with the fantasy, I don't want to spoil anybody's good time . . .
