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MEXICO CITY — The United States should reinstate a Clinton-era ban on assault weapons to prevent such guns from reaching Mexican drug cartels, former officials from both countries said in a report released Tuesday. The group, which includes two former U.S. ambassadors to Mexico, also said the U.S. should do more to stop the smuggling of firearms and ammunition into Mexico by stepping up investigations of gun dealers and more strictly regulating gun shows. The Binational Task Force on the United States-Mexico Border listed the assault weapons ban as a step the U.S. should take immediately to improve security in...

(Corrected) Gun Control: In a case headed for the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel rules Chicago's gun ban constitutional since the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply to states and cities. High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor concurs.Those Pennsylvania townsfolk bitterly clinging to their guns may have been premature in celebrating the decision in D.C. v. Heller that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does indeed guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms.

A senior Mexican official spoke with reporters today, in advance of the North American Leaders summit this weekend. The official, speaking on background, explain that this summit is basically laying the ground work for future endeavors, and advised not expect to see any obvious deliverables – that developing the relationship is essentially the goal. “No two countries are more important to each other’s security, prosperity, and well being than these two countries – simply by virtue of having a 2,000 mile border,” the official said. President Obama will meet with President Filipe Calderon and Prime Minister Harper – in bi-lats...

Remember CANDIDATE Barack Obama? The guy who “wasn’t going to take away our guns”? Well, guess what? Less than 100 days into his administration, he’s never met a gun he didn’t hate. A week ago, Obama went to Mexico, whined about the United States, and bemoaned (before the whole world) the fact that he didn’t have the political power to take away our semi-automatics. Nevertheless, that didn’t keep him from pushing additional restrictions on American gun owners. It’s called the Inter-American Convention Against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials. To be sure, this...

WASHINGTON — Amid a wave of publicity about drug-related gun violence along the Mexican border and police killings in U.S. cities, an increasing number of Americans oppose new government efforts to regulate guns. Recent nonpartisan polls show shrinking support for new gun-control measures and strong public sentiment for enforcing existing laws instead. So strong is the shift in public opinion that a proposed assault-weapons ban — once backed by 3 in 4 Americans — now rates barely 1 in 2. Frank Newport, the editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll, told reporters Tuesday that "every bit of data is showing us that...

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." ~ Second Amendment - The Bill of Rights Well, one cannot be surprised to see this Bill come to the House of Representatives. When Democrats took control of congress in 2006 and began setting up their plans, waiting for a Democrat in the White House who would sign their legislation, those who were watching knew gun control would not be far behind any socialist spending spree they got away with. Now here it...

President Obama, after meeting Thursday with Mexico's president, signaled he is backing away from his pledge to renew the U.S. ban on assault weapons but still wishes to stop the cross-border flow of guns that wind up in the arsenals of drug cartels. The military-style assault weapon ban expired in 2004, and Obama faced an uphill political battle in winning a renewal of the law, which is unpopular in key political states and among Republicans and some conservative Democrats. Obama said Thursday he preferred to focus on enforcing existing laws to keep assault weapons out of Mexico, rather than trying...

WEEKNIGHTS at 9 ET on BLOG TALK RADIOPROGRAM SCHEDULE Next Show: Thursday, April 16 at 9 pm ET. THE ANDREA SHEA KING SHOW - TONIGHT AT 9 ET. Pour yourself a stiff one. Preferably straight up. Haven’t you gotten the memo? The War on Terror has been won! Now the Obama administration has a new enemy in its sights: Right-wing Extremists! But exactly who are these extremists? Can we really believe that we are being told to be more suspicious of each other as law-abiding Americans, rather than on the alert against the true enemies of our country? Is our...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, announced last week that she wants to register guns. Her next move will be to try to confiscate them. The speaker picked a television show with a viewership of 4.6 million to float the Democrats' coming gun-control push. Questioned on ABC's "Good Morning America" about the prospect of new gun-control laws now that "it's a Democratic president, a Democratic House," she responded, "We don't want to take their guns away. We want them registered." Politicians and bureaucrats routinely claim that registration helps solve crimes. If a registered gun is used in a crime and...

BELLEVUE, Wash., April 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on April 7 acknowledged that gun registration is on her agenda, days after Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters in Mexico that the Second Amendment would not "stand in the way" of administration plans to crack down on alleged gun trafficking to Mexico. "These are alarming remarks from Speaker Pelosi and Attorney General Holder," said Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb. "It appears that the Obama administration and Capitol Hill anti-gunners have dropped all pretences about their plans for gun owners' rights, and it looks like the gloves are...

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dropped a verbal bombshell in the middle of an interview on Good Morning America April 7, and surprisingly, neither the press nor a majority of gun rights activists seemed to notice. Responding to a question from ABC’s Robin Roberts, Pelosi said that while Congress apparently does not want to take anyone’s guns away, “We want them registered.” Roberts: Under the Bush administration, you pretty much said the ball was in their court when it came to reinstating the ban. Now, it's a Democratic President, a Democratic House. So, is the ball in your court where...

In 1994, Sen. Dianne Feinstein used the tragedy of San Francisco's 101 California massacre to push a decadelong ban on assault weapons through Congress. But even the horror of Saturday's slayings of four Oakland police officers is unlikely to break through the bipartisan opposition that blocked the renewal of that ban in 2004. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and dozens of House Democrats have said they oppose efforts to bring back the national ban, either because the timing is wrong or because they oppose gun control. Pelosi said she hasn't even discussed the...

Hillary Clinton, speaking in Mexico City yesterday: We believe that we have announced a plan to use every tool at our current disposal through administrative actions to track illegal guns, to arrest and punish those who are trafficking in illegal guns, to share more information with the Mexican Government so that they can also track and seize these guns. Obviously, I am someone who supported the assault weapons ban which was passed in 1994, but it was passed with an expiration date and it expired ten years later. I, as a senator, supported measures to try to reinstate it. Politically,...

Attorney General Eric Holder is using the drug violence in Mexico to "confuse and mislead" Americans in an attempt to reinstate the expired federal assault weapons ban, gun advocates say. Get ready for a gunfight. Holder revealed his intention to reinstate the ban last month while announcing more than 700 arrests in connection with a crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating in the United States. "As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to re-institute the ban on the sale of assault weapons,"...

HR 45 Blair Holt is a propsed bill flying under the radar at House of Representatives proposed in Jan 09 to amend the Brady Law, which will make it mandatory to have fingerprints, mental evaluations for handguns with additional fees and if you have children inspected storage on a regular basis with prison terms of 5 yrs if you violate, and restricts certain guns (rifles) to assault rifle status according to a 29 yr Marine on Cunningham's radio show.

I thought I would share with all of you the letter I sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on February 26th: February 26, 2009 Mr. Eric Holder United States Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001 Dear Mr. Holder: Congratulations on your appointment and confirmation as Attorney General of the United States. I am writing to address your recent comments about the renewal of the federal assault weapons, which I read in The Hill today. This raises grave concerns for me and other law-abiding gun owners. I strongly urge you to reconsider this effort....

"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban as soon as I take office. Within 90 days, we will go back after kitchen table dealers, and work to end the gun show and internet sales loopholes. In the first year, I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns." Barack Obama, VPC Fund Raiser, 2007 *(note: The Violence Policy Center denies that Obama ever said the above.) Bill Clinton didn't inhale, but Barack Obama did, and blew smoke when he answered in...

Washington » Utah congressmen are taking issue with the Obama administration's call for a new assault-weapons ban, saying it interferes with the public's right to bear arms and won't reduce crime. The ban expired in 2004 after being in place for 10 years. In a news conference Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder said: "As President [Barack] Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons." Holder believes the ban would help curb the flow of guns...

More than 50 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to enforce a ban on importing assault weapons. The 53 lawmakers, all Democrats, say many such guns are later smuggled south to arm Mexico's ruthless drug cartels. The ban was implemented under the administrations of President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. government can enforce it under provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act. But the lawmakers say in their letter that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has quietly abandoned the ban in recent years. The ATF declined...

Gov. Corzine called yesterday for tougher gun laws at the state and national levels, citing the recent discovery of 259 firearms at a man's Gloucester County home as a reason to bring back a federal ban on assault weapons. Corzine also called on the state Senate to give final legislative approval to a plan to limit New Jersey handgun buyers to one purchase every 30 days - putting public pressure on lawmakers to pass a bill that appears stalled. "There is no reason why anyone needs more than one gun a month," Corzine said. "It is time for the Senate...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Michigan: Anti-Second Amendment Resolution to be Considered by Calhoun County Commissioners!   Tuesday, February 03, 2009   Please Stand-Up and Make Your Voices Heard! On Thursday, February 5 the Calhoun County Commissioners will consider a proposed resolution that would have serious effects on our Second Amendment freedoms.  Essentially, this proposal is a local version of the failed Clinton Gun Ban on assault weapons and contains broad and ambiguous language that would threaten virtually all firearms sales.  Public comments will only be accepted at the meeting.  The meeting will be held at...

HR 45, gun licensing act, 1/6/09 To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] (introduced 1/6/2009) Cosponsors (None) Latest Major Action: 1/6/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless that person has been issued a firearm license under this...

Obama backs renewing the federal Assault Weapons Ban As polls and pundits in recent weeks increasingly pointed to the election of Barack Obama as the next president, scores of Utahns flocked to gun stores. Obama has supported renewing the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban, which stops the manufacture of several semiautomatic guns with large magazines. "Such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets," Obama's Web site states. Local gun dealers quickly are running out of stock of magazines for Colt AR-15s and AK models and many have seen a sharp increase in the sales of those guns....

Since Assault Weapons Ban Lifted, At Least 163 Dead, 185 Wounded, 15 Police Officers Dead, 23 Wounded To: NATIONAL EDITORS Contact: Peter Hamm of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, +1-202-898-0792 WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the four years since the federal assault weapons ban expired on September 15, 2004, at least 163 people have been killed and 185 wounded with military-style semiautomatic assault weapons, including at least 38 police officers killed or wounded, according to a report being issued today by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Restrictions on assault weapons, which drew support from Presidents...

A move to reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons now has a new co-sponsor on Capitol Hill, and he says last week’s murder of Philadelphia police officer Stephen Liczbinski is what prompted him to act. Suburban US congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) admits that the plan has been in the pipeline for months, and concedes that its chances for passage this term are slim. But Sestak (in file photo above) insists that the Liczbinski slaying merely prompted him to act on a measure he’s always supported: "There’s no need to have our law enforcement officers having to feel like they’re...

Days after a Philadelphia police sergeant was killed with a semi-automatic rifle, Mayor Nutter and Gov. Rendell called upon Congress to enact a new federal assault-weapons ban that would remove such weapons from the streets."The time has come for politicians to decide," said Rendell at the City Hall news conference attended by top police brass and state elected officials. "You have to decide whether you're on their side - the men and women who wear blue - or whether you're on the side of the gun lobby."The federal assault-weapons ban, which lasted from 1994 through 2004, outlawed an array of...

When a rash of gun murders takes place, it makes sense for the police to do one of two things: renew tactics that have been effective in the past at curbing homicides, or embrace ideas that have not been tried before. But those options don't appeal to Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis. What he proposes is a crackdown on assault weapons. I'm tempted to say this is the moral equivalent of a placebo—a sugar pill that is irrelevant to the malady at hand. But that would be unfair. Placebos, after all, sometimes have a positive effect. Assault weapons bans, not...

My biggest fears may be realized. I don't post vanities too often, but this issue has kept me up most of the night. The ramifications of the shooting in Omaha have yet to be felt and what follows is something that we all need to consider and prepare to combat. Earlier this year I made the prediction there would be a mass killing by another ‘troubled’ teen with an ‘assault’ weapon on the innocent, in this case an SKS in Omaha. It would occur in a large setting where CCW was not allowed and once again set off the Assault...

LADSON, S.C., Nov. 24 — Joe McCormick, a burly man over six feet tall, a World War II-era Mauser rifle at his side, said he was frightened. “Giuliani scares me,” Mr. McCormick said of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination. “What does a mayor of New York know about guns?” Fred D. Thompson, who was about 30 yards away — just past the “Confederate Cutlery” collection of knives, fingering an M-1 rifle at the Land of Sky Gun Show here Saturday — was more his kind of candidate. Mr....

Rudolph W. Giuliani will go before the rank and file of the National Rifle Association on Friday, seeking support for his Republican presidential campaign from a group he once likened to "extremists" for its efforts to repeal the ban on assault weapons. But even as the former New York mayor strives to burnish his Second Amendment credentials at the gathering in Washington, a panel of federal judges in his home town will be hearing arguments on the lawsuit that Giuliani filed seven years ago aimed at punishing the nation's gun manufacturers for violent crimes involving firearms. Announcing the lawsuit in...

Three top Republican presidential contenders took fire from their second-tier rivals and traded digs on Tuesday, with Rudolph Giuliani defending his abortion rights support and John McCain and Mitt Romney trying to burnish their conservative credentials. In the second debate in two weeks between the 10 men vying for the 2008 Republican nomination, Giuliani, McCain and Romney -- "Rudy McRomney" to their detractors -- tried to ease doubts among conservatives about their records. The 90-minute session in conservative South Carolina featured a sharp exchange between front-runner Giuliani and longshot Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who said America's Middle East policies...

Democrat John Edwards said Tuesday that he worked for a hedge fund between presidential campaigns to learn about financial markets and their relationship to poverty—and to make money too. In an interview with The Associated Press, the former North Carolina senator said his yearlong, part-time position with Fortress Investment Group helped his understanding of the connection but he has more to learn. Edwards has made eradicating poverty a focus of his second White House bid. Edwards, a multimillionaire after years as a trial lawyer, would not disclose how much he got paid for a year of consulting beginning in October...

House Bill No. 760 was introduced in the State House of representatives last week. The bill was introduced by representatives Cruz, Youngblood, Parker, Wheatley, Bennington and Curry. The legislation calls for every gun in Pennsylvania to be registered with the state, and each registration must be renewed annually. The registration would cost the gun owner $10 per gun each year. The bill also calls for each gun owner to be fingerprinted, have a back ground check, and to submit pass port-style photos for registration cards. The registration card for each gun would then have to be carried with that gun...

US excludes AWB after Iraq probe AWB was the largest single supplier of humanitarian goods to Iraq Australia's wheat exporter AWB has been suspended from US government contracts and faces permanent exclusion, for paying bribes to Iraq's former regime.The step was taken "based on evidence of illicit activities", said US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. Last month, a judicial inquiry found AWB broke UN oil-for-food programme rules by paying Saddam Hussein $222m (£112m) to secure contracts. It also recommended that 11 former AWB executives face corruption charges. The high-profile commission inquiry, chaired by former judge Terence Cole, cleared the Australian...

I haven't checked out the two above forums in a while, and when I did last night, there seemed to be alot of talk, especially on calguns.net, about AR-15's now being legal in CA due to a court case called Harrott. Does anyone have any specifics on this, especially the chronology of events?

After ditching one city because of its restrictive gun rules, the National Rifle Association said Thursday that it intends to bring the group's annual convention in 2007 to St. Louis. The gun laws here, it said, are more accommodating. St. Louis initially was not even a finalist for the event. But last month, the NRA abruptly canceled plans to go to Columbus, Ohio, blaming the city's recent passage of an assault weapons ban. Commitments to book thousands of hotel rooms and even the public announcement of a deal evaporated. "Obviously this shows (Columbus politicians') disinterest in having the NRA, our...

Saturday, May 7, 2005 AG's office may probe hate mail By PAUL CARRIER, Portland Press Herald Writer Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. E-mail this story to a friend AUGUSTA — The Attorney General's Office is deciding whether to launch a formal investigation into three pieces of hate mail sent to Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland, at the State House. Chuck Dow, the spokesman for Attorney General Steven Rowe, said Friday that Rowe's office is "reviewing" the mailings, all three of which have April postmarks from Portland. The unsigned mailings contain derogatory references to Jews and chastise Strimling, whose father...

Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to speak about a common sense bill that will protect American citizens and law enforcement officers. The Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act is designed to restore and strengthen the ban on assault weapons that expired on September 13, 2004. The Government Accountability Office recently reported that 47 people on the terrorist watch list legally purchased firearms in this country last year. I personally believe that a person on the terrorist watch list, who isn't allowed to board a commercial airliner, should not be able to purchase any weapon. But they especially...

The Oregon State Legislature will soon be considering a bill that would outlaw semiautomatic "assault rifles" and large-capacity magazines and require registration of these items purchased before the bill's effective date. However, any attempt to prohibit an individual citizen's right to own a firearm represents a gross misunderstanding not only of U.S. Constitutional Law, but also of the basic principles of human nature that caused the Framers to specifically pronounce that right in the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Every constitutional scholar recognizes that the Framers composed the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution as a reaction to the...

Monday, December 20, 2004 TO: USF & NRA Members & Friends FROM: Marion P. Hammer Unified Sportsmen of Florida Executive Director NRA Past President SUBJECT: SB-500 It has started !! The threat by the Brady Campaign/Million Mom Marchers to reenact the Clinton Gun Ban state by state has started with Florida. The first Gun Ban bill has been filed for the 2005 Florida Legislative Session which begins in March 2005. The bill has not been referred to committees yet. We will notify members when it has been referenced and will provide email addresses to legislators you need to contact to...

Sen. Zell Miller urges gun-rights audience to support Bush campaign CONCORD - With the sound of stock cars zooming by as a backdrop, Democratic U.S. Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia Friday urged gun owners to support President Bush's re-election. Miller spoke as part of a National Rifle Association rally at Lowe's Motor Speedway before the Busch Series SpongeBob 300 race. It was the influential gun lobby's first rally in conjunction with a NASCAR race, said Chris Cox, the organization's chief lobbyist. Former President Bill Clinton has credited the group with Al Gore's defeat in the 2000 election. "NASCAR nation is...

This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40699 Thursday, September 30, 2004 The media that couldn't shoot straight Posted: September 30, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Larry Elder © 2004 Laurence A. Elder Can Americans now purchase assault weapons? If you listen to some pols and mainstream media, you probably cannot answer that question. In 1994, Congress passed and President Clinton signed a 10-year ban on so-called "assault weapons." In reality, the bill outlawed certain semiautomatic weapons with cosmetic features that made them look, well, military. The law banned the manufacture and...

The federal ban on semiautomatic rifles — i.e. “assault weapons” — was allowed to expire earlier this month, the collective inaction of both Congress and the Bush administration. The passing of this legislation, however well-intentioned, is hardly lamented. For starters, the ban was not really needed when it was implemented 10 years ago. Prior to the law’s passage, these so-called “assault” weapons, rifles mostly, were used in fewer than 1 percent of all violent crimes. These numbers have not changed, even though Americans still own more than 30 million legal semiautomatic firearms. As the law enforcement community has determined, it’s...

WARNING: The page you have accessed is dependent on JAVASCRIPT which is not supported by your browser. Due to this limitation, you may experience unexpected results within this site. Trigger Happy The NRA outguns its opponents.by Katherine Mangu-Ward 09/27/2004, Volume 010, Issue 03 SOMETHING HAPPENED last week that sent reporters across the country scurrying for the nearest gun shop. A ban on certain assault weapons, signed into law by President Clinton in 1994, expired on Monday. Though Bush said he wanted to see the ban extended, there was only coy silence from the White House and the Republican-dominated Congress...

Despite the hyperbole of some anti-gun forces, don’t expect our streets to suddenly fill with new and dangerous weapons now that Congress has refused to re-enact a ban on so-called assault weapons. That’s because the decade-old ban was always more about symbolism than eliminating dangerous weapons. For instance, a news report out of Denver Tuesday told of people eagerly lining up to purchase AR-15 rifles at a local gun store once the ban was lifted. But the AR-15 — a semiautomatic, small-caliber rifle — was never prohibited under the ban enacted during the first Clinton term. However, certain configurations were...

A 10-year-old federal ban on assault weapons expired earlier this week with little chance that a vote to reestablish it will be brought before congress in the near future. Chris W. Cox, chief lobbyist and executive director of NRA's institute for legislative action, took questions on the association and the expiration of the assault weapons ban. The transcript follows. Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. Chris W. Cox: Hello, everyone. I'm glad to have the opportunity to...

I've been watching John Kerry pretty closely. One thing I've said for some time is -- he is no Algore, thankfully. Gore was famous for the crazy things he said: inventor of the internet, the movie "Love Story" was based upon his marriage, and the list went on and on and on. To this point in time, although John Kerry has run a pretty lame campaign and made some pretty unwise decisions (in my opinion), he hasn't risen to the level of Doofus that Algore did early on. Until last night. Last night on Fox News, in an attempt to...

E-mail Author Send to a Friend <% printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%> Print Version September 13, 2004, 6:30 a.m. Assault-Weapons Ban, R.I.P.Good riddance. By Timothy Wheeler The 1994 federal assault-weapons ban officially dies tonight. It was a bad job from the beginning, a fraudulent piece of legislation pushed through by hard-line gun-control advocates during the glory days of the Clinton era. To get it through Congress, its backers had to agree to a ten-year sunset provision. The law passes quietly into history at midnight. Until the last minute, apologists for the ban have tried desperately to breathe life back into it,...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend <% printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%> Print Version September 13, 2004, 6:30 a.m. Bait-'n'-SwitchGun-prohibition lobbyists are after much more than AK-47s. At midnight tonight, the federal ban on so-called "assault weapons" expires. As a constitutional moment, the expiration is as significant for the Second Amendment as the March 3, 1801, expiration of the Alien and Sedition Acts was for the First Amendment. These federal laws were not found unconstitutional by any court, but the laws expired in disgrace because our political system, as expressed through congressional elections, determined them to be infringements on...

Assault Rifle Ban Set to Expire The restriction on the sale of military-type assault weapons will expire on Monday, lacking the support in Congress needed to renew the bill. Originally passed under President Clinton in 1994, the ban was met with an array of vacillating assessments, and, while gun control advocates called it a step in the right direction, the bill was so teeming with loopholes that critics said it merely had a "cosmetic" effect on the rifles manufactured and sold in the United States. Although President Bush acknowledged his support of the bill, or at least his willingness to...