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Law enforcement authorities have broken up a network of international arms smugglers who sold black-market assault rifles in the United States and were plotting to import military weapons - including anti-aircraft missiles and antitank guns - from Eastern Europe, federal and New York City officials announced yesterday. The arms dealers sold the weapons to a confidential informer working with the F.B.I. who told them he was buying the arms for Al Qaeda, said David N. Kelley, the United States attorney in Manhattan, at a news conference. Mr. Kelley said the dealers were not associated with any terrorist organization but were...

Soldiers who have completed military service can hold on to the army’s latest assault rifle from April 1, but they will have to pay for the pleasure.The government says the weapons must first have their fully automatic capability disabled – and owners have to foot the bill. Friday’s ruling means Swiss soldiers can, for the first time, take home the SIG 90 assault rifle. Previously, they had only been allowed to keep the older SIG 57 rifle and regulation pistols. But in a break with tradition, those who don’t want to be separated from their personal weapon will have to...

Press Release New Yorkers Against Gun Violence New York, NY www.nyagv.org nyagv@nyagv.org Early this afternoon New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) held a press conference concerning Sunday afternoon's shooting spree at the Hudson Valley Mall where a 24-year old man armed with an assault rifle injured two people before being subdued. Reports stated that the weapon used was a Hesse Model 47 (a copy cat version of the banned AK-47 assault weapon). In addition, the shooter was able to squeeze off approximately 60 rounds and may have reloaded one time. Despite New York State's ban on certain assault weapons (passed...

A03371 Summary: SAME AS No same as SPONSOR Bing COSPNSR Eddington, Englebright, Paulin, Dinowitz, Cook, Seddio, Lavelle, Ortiz, Stringer, Espaillat, Benedetto MLTSPNSR Brennan, Cymbrowitz, Diaz L, Diaz R, Gordon, Gottfried, Hooper, Lafayette, Peoples, Pheffer, Sanders, Towns, Wright Rpld S265.00 sub 22 (e) sub (iv) & (v), amd SS265,00, 265.20 & 400.05, Pen L Adds semiautomatic rifles, shotguns or pistols or a replica or a duplicate thereof manufactured on October 1, 1993 and semiautomatic rifles, shotguns or semiautomatic pistols lawfully possessed prior to September 14, 1994 to the definition of assault weapon; provides for the superintendent of the division of...

Terrorism as an Excuse Another CBS campaign. By John R. Lott Jr. Who could oppose laws preventing terrorists from getting guns? Obviously no one. But it would be nice if laws accomplished something more than simply making it more difficult for Americans to own guns. Ironically the day before CBS finally released its report on the 60 Minutes Memogate scandal, 60 Minutes was again stirring up fears about how terrorists would use 50-caliber rifles to attack Americans. Last year it was the semi-automatic assault-weapons ban before it expired. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D., N.Y.) claimed the ban was "the most...

The 1994 assault-weapons ban has expired, and our nation is again vulnerable to guns known to most in the law enforcement community as "the weapons of choice for criminals." The Federal Assault Weapons Act was passed by Congress in 1994 as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and signed into law by President Clinton on September 13, 1994. I am proud to be the author of H.R. 5099, reinstating the assault-weapons ban. My legislation will make Florida and the nation safer. In contrast, the House leadership opposed reauthorizing the 1994 Assault Weapons Act and President Bush,...

Adam Noble (Nov. 4), whose opinion I respect, responded in the Exponent to a letter by Bill Arevalo (Oct. 27), a student who frequents his university while carrying a loaded gun concealed on his person. Mr. Noble expressed his disdain with the carrying of arms on campus. However, he should visit Tel Aviv University in Israel, where it is possible to see some students coming to study with fully automatic assault rifles (me included) as well as privately owned pistols. This does not infringe upon its academic atmosphere at all. As far as I know, there has never been a...

[note: old news - 1989 - shows Specter character] S-747, The DeConcini Gun Bill Passes The Senate Judiciary Committee Are you getting the feeling these days that in the future you may have fewer types of firearms to sell? Recent events in Washington seem to indicate you are correct--and that the number of guns on the prohibited list may continue to grow. On July 7, the Bush Administration ordered that the temporary import suspension on 50 semiautomatic firearms be made permanent on 43 of the guns. Then 13 days later, the Senate Judiciary Committee surprised even most of its members...

I tried to post the anti-gun article, titled "Don't relax, assault weapons are near you - Alleged plot case puts high-powered issue in spotlight" located at , but due to copyright complaints, it is not allowed. If you have missed the anti-gun bleating of the left during the election cycle, go to the above url and read this drivel. Then, do as I did and write this anti-gun GOOFBALL a "nasty gram". Here is the letter I wrote him... Dear Mr. Thomason, I just read your article, "Don't relax, assault weapons are near you" online. Since democrats figured they'd best...

A judge has ruled that state legislation can't supersede Denver's gun laws because the state constitution gives home rule cities supremacy in issues of local concern. A new court ruling upholding most of Denver's gun ordinances is invaluable on two counts: It underscores the importance of home rule and it highlights the obvious - Denver is not the same as a small town, and when it comes to guns it shouldn't be treated like one. Deputy City Attorney David Broadwell said it this way in his opening brief: "Simply put, a bullet fired in Denver - whether maliciously by a...

This poll needs help

...Oh, there was a lot of sound-bite mugging for the cameras. But in terms of law and order, this is a non-event. The gun ban was always a cosmetic exercise, a symbolic attempt by Democrats in the early Clinton years to scare suburban voters and show they could defeat the National Rifle Association. So they managed to outlaw a handful of semi-automatic weapons, though with a simple modification or two those same weapons could be made legal again. Criminals have hardly been at a loss for firepower. "We agree that the 1994 law is ineffective," Kristen Rand, a leading gun-controller,...

"...Is it right to let the assault weapons ban expire?.." www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) on Monday accused President Bush (news - web sites) of ducking his responsibility to protect the country from crime and terrorism by allowing a national assault weapons ban to expire. Kerry outlined his own $5 billion plan to fight crime and picked up the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations, a coalition of more than 2,000 police unions and associations. "Today George Bush (news - web sites) made the job of terrorists easier and made the job of America's law enforcement officers harder and that's just plain wrong,"...

U.S. Department of JusticeBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives    Washington, DC 20226 CHANGES IN FEDERAL LAW AS OF SEPTEMBER 13, 2004 RELATING TO SEMIAUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS (SAWs)ANDLARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES (LCAFDs) GENERALAs of September 13, 2004, the provisions of Public Law 103-322, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, covering semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices are no longer in effect. The regulations implementing these provisions also are no longer in effect.Specifically, there is no longer a Federal prohibition on the manufacture, transfer, and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and...

Expiration of the Assault Weapon Ban. The 1994 federal assault weapon ban is scheduled to expire Monday, September 13. Is this a good thing or bad thing? --Good thing. It was a phony political ban based on cosmetic features of weapons that had nothing to do with crime prevention. --Bad thing. Gun control measures like this are reasonable and necessary to make our streets safer. --No impact. Did nothing to reduce crime but, at the same time, was not an unreasonable curtailment of individuals' 2A rights

You know, reading all the back-and-forth about whether Kerry's new shotgun would have been banned under legislation he sponsored, it occurs to me to point out the obvious: We're debating what constitutes a pistol grip, while we all concur that a collapsable shoulder stock would mean the shotgun is definitely on the no-no list; but shoulder-stocks and pistol grips aren't strictly speaking the deadly part of firearms. Am I wrong? A semiauto shotgun is a semiauto shotgun, and if I'm looking to kill somebody with a semiauto shotgun, I'm probably not going to beat him to death with the checkered...

Assault weapon ban set to expire As Feinstein frets over the 10-year-old law's demise, at least one gun maker is gearing up. By David Whitney -- Bee Washington Bureau Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, September 12, 2004 WASHINGTON - Given how fickle politicians seem to be about assault weapons, Illinois-based Armalite Inc. is taking no chances. After the ban on manufacturing and sale of the military-style guns expires at 12:01 a.m. Monday, Armalite's 75 workers will shift assembly lines to begin assembling and shipping assault weapons as fast as they can. The company fears that the reopened market for the...

Nightline Daily E-Mail September 8, 2004 TONIGHT'S FOCUS: For 10 years, it has been illegal in this country to manufacture or distribute some of the most deadly semi-automatic guns in the world. The majority of the public supports this ban and at least by some measures, gun violence has abated. So why are most of the Congress, the President, and the Democratic contender for the White House all looking the other way while this law is set to expire next week, returning these assault weapons to the streets? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1994, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed the assault weapons...

Nicholas Kristof on the assault weapons ban and nuclear terrorism.NICHOLAS KRISTOF can't make up his mind about who's more dangerous: al Qaeda or gun-toting Americans. Kristof recently wrote two columns on the dangers of nuclear proliferation, his conclusion being that we are now more vulnerable to nuclear attack than ever before. In his August 11 column, Kristof speculated that, if a 10-kiloton nuclear device exploded in Times Square, "it would vaporize or destroy the theater district, Madison Square Garden . . . the United Nations," and so on. He concluded that the casualty figure would be approximately 500,000 dead, and...