Posted on 09/16/2004 12:55:38 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Totally Awesome Guns and Range in West Valley City, Utah, has been hopping this week with customers trying to buy guns that were illegal until the 10-year-old ban on assault weapons expired Monday.
One man bought all 15 of the Colt M-4 rifles that the store's general manager, Stephen Palano, had in stock. The M-4 is a semiautomatic version of the weapon used by American Special Forces and paratroopers. Until Congress allowed the assault weapon ban to lapse, the gun could be sold in the United States only to law enforcement agencies.
Andy Risbeck was disappointed to enter the store and find the M-4's sold out. He already owns an assault-style weapon - a rifle with a pistol grip and a high-capacity magazine - but because of the ban, his gun is missing a few military features, like a bayonet attachment, so now he wants the authentic weapon.
"It's more of a novelty thing," Mr. Risbeck said of his motivation. "I can play with all these different toys now and not get in trouble."
But the fervent interest appeared limited, as many gun stores across the nation reported little unusual activity after the ban's expiration.
Don Davis, the owner of Don's Guns in Indianapolis, the largest independently owned gun shop in the country, said, "No one has come in and asked about assault weapons."
The reason, Mr. Davis said, is that guns very similar to those banned remained readily available. "People have already got whatever they want; these guns were always for sale," he said.
Under the 1994 law, assault weapons already in circulation could continue to be sold. New guns with a large-capacity magazine accommodating more than 10 bullets could not have more than two combat-style features, including pistol grips for faster firing, a flash suppressor, a collapsible stock or a bayonet mount.
Mr. Davis called these "cosmetic changes that didn't do anything to change a gun's functioning."
Still, on Tuesday, Mr. Davis began making one adjustment because of the ban's expiration. He marked down the price of two Calico rifles that had been manufactured before the ban. One had a magazine with a 50-shot capacity; the other had a 100-shot capacity.
Mr. Davis reduced the price of each by $500, making them $1,000 to $1,200, "because I figure Calico sooner or later will now bring them back into production," increasing the supply.
Most gun store employees tended to agree with Mr. Davis that the end of the ban would lead to lower prices of the assault weapons that were sold during the ban and of high-capacity magazines long coveted by collectors and other gun enthusiasts.
Steve Baxter, the manager of American Classic Marksman, a gun shop and firing range in Norcross, Ga., outside Atlanta, said, "There is only one thing that changes: the price of the stuff."
Guns made before the ban carried a premium. Customers had to pay as much as $2,000 for a Colt AR-15, the civilian version of the military's M-16 rifle, Mr. Baxter said. But guns made during the ban that had certain restrictions were only $700 to $800.
"I've got a gun at home I paid $1,600 for," he said. "It's worth $800 now, thank you very much."
Similarly, Tim Adams, vice president of Kittery Trading Post in Kittery, Me., said, "We only had a few people inquiring" about assault weapons since the ban was lifted.
"The majority of people see the ban for what it was, a largely cosmetic law, one that had no discernable effect on crime," Mr. Adams said.
The only real change from the ban's expiration, he said, will be a drop in the price of those guns with all the features made before the ban. "It's natural supply and demand," Mr. Adams said.
Still, Bernie Esguerra, owner of Bernie's Sports Center in Lilborn, Ga., another Atlanta suburb, said he had a few customers who had put down deposits in advance of the ban's expiration on high-capacity magazines for Glock pistols. Those magazines could be legally purchased and attached to their handguns starting Monday.
Mr. Esguerra also had a few customers who came in this week to buy 100-round magazines for their AR-15 rifles. Such large magazines were banned under the 1994 law.
"Most of these people are law-abiding citizens," Mr. Esguerra said. "They're not using them to kill people, but for an investment and to target shoot."
The expiration of the federal ban on assault weapons does not change the rules in seven states. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, California and Hawaii have their own bans on assault weapons.
On Monday, California went a step further when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law making California the first state to ban 50-caliber sniper rifles. These rifles, which fire an armor-piercing bullet the same size as the military's 50-caliber machine gun, are accurate up to a mile.
They can shoot down airplanes or helicopters, and according to testimony in federal district court in New York, 25 of them were bought in the United States by terrorists and shipped to Osama bin Laden before the United States invaded Afghanistan to root out Al Qaeda.
Republicans in the House of Representatives are trying to capitalize on the expiration of the assault weapons ban and are preparing to vote on a bill that would repeal a ban on handguns in Washington. Representative Mark Souder, Republican of Indiana, said House Republican leaders told him they would allow a vote on his bill to remove the ban on handguns in the nation's capital before the Nov. 2 presidential election.
A repeal of that ban, originally enacted by the Washington City Council in 1976, has been a longtime goal of the National Rifle Association.
Ariel Hart contributed reporting from Atlanta for this article, Melissa Sanford from Utah and Kate Zezima from Boston.
Yep! Shore is!
With special ammo, many months of specialized training and calculations of MET and ENV (air temperature, wind velocity and direction, barometric pressure, slant angle to the target, temperature of the ammunition and spin drift).
The only military in the world who offers the training necessary for extreme range shooting is the US.
Common 650 grain ball ammo like I shoot goes transonic at 1400 meters, way short of one mile, and accuracy is a fantasy.
"They can shoot down airplanes or helicopters,"
Yep! Shore can!
If the terrorists can make the calculations required for the changing MET and ENV and apply those changes to their scope before the airliner, flying at 800 mph, or the helicopter, flying at 150 mph, becomes a dot in the sky.
Also assuming that the rounds they fire will still be in supersonic travel in order to detonate the incendiary round containing the RDX explosive.
GET REAL, NEW YORK SLIMES!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1216050/posts?page=14#14
T_skoz is bitter....:o)
Stay safe !
I've GOT to shoot that thing!
Well, I'm kind of bitter, too!
Tain't fair! I'm droolin'!
I wonder where I'm gonna mount the bayonet lug?
Do you have a pair of blue monster booties??
Just wouldn't be right without them.
Aw, heck, TC... that .50 is a girl's gun.. I've seen the Texas FReeper Babes
fire that thing and giggle about it.. lots of times. 
The NYT must be misinformed. ;-)
I didn't think Don was that big anymore. He's closed most of his store and ranges here in Indy.
If there's anything that the NYT would be more afraid of doing than shooting the .50, it would be being around women like Rika and the FReeper babes!
They pee in their pants at the thought of either one!
Aww, you're just a Sweetie COB!
I love that .50. It's soooo... big. ;-)
It's soooo... big. ;-)"
Uhhh.........thanks..
Will do, Joe.
"New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, California and Hawaii have their own bans on assault weapons."
Maryland has an assault weapons ban?
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