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WHAT DO YOU THINK? The 10-year federal ban on assault weapons expires Monday. Should the ban be extended? Yes No

As regressive milestones go, few are as frightful in this new era of homeland security as the decision by Congress and the Bush administration to allow the expiration of the 10-year-old law protecting the public from assault rifles and other rapid-fire battlefield weapons. The law - a far from perfect but demonstrably effective restraint on high-tech gunslingers - expires on Monday with not a whimper from the White House. When George Bush was a candidate four years ago and under campaign pressure from moderates, he announced that he did support the renewal of this highly popular law. It turned out...

Published Friday, September 10, 2004, in Los Angeles Times With the federal assault weapons ban sunsetting on Monday at midnight, the gun-control movement has a lot to fear, but not what most people think. Despite claims that letting the 10-year-old ban on some semiautomatic weapons expire will result in a surge in gun crimes and police killings, the fact is that letting the law expire will probably just show the uselessness of gun-control regulations. A year from now it will be obvious to everyone that all the horror stories about the ban — a cornerstone of the gun-control movement —...

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Would you support an extention of the federal ban on assault weapons which will expire next week? Yes 124 (70%) No 52 (30%) Total Votes: 176 Comment: Name: * All submitted comments are subject to approval. Not all comments will be posted.

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Assault-weapons ban set to expireBy Stephen DinanTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished September 9, 2004 The assault-weapons ban, passed 10 years ago to prohibit the sale of some firearms, will end next week, and Congress will not move to extend it.     "It will expire Monday, and that's that," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texas Republican, told reporters yesterday.     Some police chiefs were in Washington yesterday to lobby for extending the ban, but did not sway congressional leaders, who said there is no room on the schedule. In addition to Mr. DeLay, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican,...

Gun Makers Already Market Assault Weapons Gun Manufacturers, Facing Federal Ban, Already Marketing Assault Weapons, Study Finds The Associated Press WASHINGTON Sept. 7, 2004 — With the federal ban on assault weapons set to expire next Monday, gun manufacturers are marketing military-style firearms and are ready to sell them as soon as Sept. 14, a consumer group said Tuesday. "The gun industry is champing at the bit for the ban to expire," said Susan Peschin, firearms project director at the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit association of 300 consumer groups that released the study. The consumer group interviewed gun...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - Despite widespread popular support, the federal law banning the sale of 19 kinds of semiautomatic assault weapons is almost certain to expire on Monday, the result of intense lobbying by the National Rifle Association and the complicated election-year politics of Washington. While President Bush has expressed support for legislation extending the ban and has said he would sign it into law, he has not pressured lawmakers to act, leading critics to accuse him of trying to have it both ways. Efforts to renew the ban, which polls show is supported by at least two-thirds of Americans,...

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Inside PoliticsBy Greg PiercePublished September 8, 2004 Kerry misfire?     "Was Dem presidential hopeful John Kerry seen this weekend waving a gun which would have been banned if legislation he co-sponsored became law?" Matt Drudge asks at his Web site (www.drudgereport.com).     "Kerry co-sponsored S. 1431 last year (The Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003), which would have banned a 'semiautomatic shotgun that has a pistol grip,' " Mr. Drudge said.     "Opponents of the bill successfully argued how nearly all guns have 'pistol grips,' including millions of Browning Auto-5 shotguns produced since 1903.     "Photos...

Morning Editor (CNSNews.com) - Gun control advocates are demanding that President Bush extend the ban on certain "military-style assault weapons" before the law expires on Monday. But Second Amendment groups say the so-called "ban" was pointless from the beginning, because it simply affected cosmetic features -- the way semi-automatic guns look, not the way they operate. "On Monday, September 13th, at midnight, the national ban on military-style assault weapons will expire, allowing these murderous weapons back on our streets," the liberal MoveOn.org said on its website. "Congress is feeling the heat and is prepared to renew the ban, if the...

www.gunowners.orgSep 2004 Just Five More Days Until the Semi-auto Ban Sunsets! -- But Brady Bunch making one last push on the House, Senate and Oval Office Gun Owners of America 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102 Springfield, VA 22151 (703)321-8585 ACTION: 1. Ask President Bush to resist the efforts of police chiefs, who will be pressing him this week to reauthorize the Clinton semi-auto ban. A pre-written letter is provided below. 2. Celebrate the approaching sunset of the semi-auto ban by buying another gun. While the gun being auctioned below is not a semi-automatic firearm, it is the actual gun that...

Report: Makers Taking Orders Gun manufacturers are gearing up for the scheduled expiration next week of a 10-year-old federal ban on assault weapons and are taking orders for semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines that may soon become legal again, according to a report released yesterday. The report by the Consumer Federation of America, which favors greater regulation of the gun industry, concludes that "assault weapons will be more lethal and less expensive" without the ban and argues that police "may be forced to adopt a more militaristic approach" as greater numbers of firearms flood the market. The report, based...

RACINE, W.Va., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a press release regarding the Remington model 11-87 shotgun that Sen. John Kerry recently accepted: At a Labor Day campaign rally yesterday, Sen. John Kerry accepted an ironic gift from a labor union representative. The gift, a Remington model 11-87 shotgun commonly used in hunting and recreational shooting enjoyed by millions of Americans, would be banned as an "assault weapon" under a bill that Kerry is co-sponsoring. "The semi-automatic shotgun that Kerry accepted is one that he'd like to ban under his bill known as 'The Assault Weapons Ban and Law...

The so-called assault-weapons ban is about to sunset. About time. It was one of the goofiest gun laws on the books. It outlawed guns because they look mean — the perfect law for a superficial world. The assault-weapons ban was racial profiling for guns. Before we start, you should know I used to be like you when it came to firearms. I had a religious-like hatred of guns. In fact, I was a member of the anti-gun organization Handgun Control Inc. It was a long slow, conversion for me, spurred by the patient influence of my older brother Paul, who...

FOCUS: ASSAULT WEAPONS With the federal law banning assault weapons about to expire, advocates and opponents question its effectiveness WASHINGTON - A decade after Buffalo led the nation in crimes involving assault weapons - and with the city again plagued with gang-related violence - the federal law banning some of those guns expires Sept. 13. And while some gun-control advocates are up in arms, there's otherwise little outcry about the fact that Congress appears unwilling to renew the ban. Once touted as a sure-fire way to cut crime, the assault-weapons ban now looks like a loophole-ridden partial success even to...

Local candidates and gun owners have different views on the federal assault weapons ban. The ban is set to expire on Sept. 13 and prohibits the sale and possession by citizens of certain semi-automatic weapons. State Rep. Candidate Jeff Crites, R — Lafayette, said he is against having a ban on assault weapons. "The law is saying that we’re not smart enough to train ourselves," Crites said. An Air Force veteran who grew up owning a weapon, Crites said his father and Boy Scouts trained him to use it correctly. However, he did support laws banning those with criminal records...

The end may be near for controversial assault weapon ban. Just looking at the two rifles in David Conway's hands, it might seem easy to pick out the assault weapon banned by federal law for manufacture and sale in the United States. It's not. The ArmaLite M15A2 — a black, metal, military-style rifle with the pistol grip and detachable magazine — looks the part of an outlaw. But it is a legal weapon produced by gun makers today and bought and sold by citizens. The other weapon, a Springfield M1-A, is a more traditional wood-and-metal rifle that doesn't resemble the...

As The Dispatch’s July 26 editorial illustrates, the drumbeat has begun in the media to reauthorize the 1994 ban on assault weapons. Claims that these firearms are criminals’ weapons of choice are false. A congressionally mandated study confirms assault weapons were used in less than 1 percent of violent crime. Even a Washington Post editorial admitted, "Assault weapons play a part in only a small percentage of crime. The provision is mainly symbolic; its virtue will be if it turns out to be, as hoped, a steppingstone to broader gun control." Bill sponsor Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told CBS’ 60...

Political pressure to do the wrong thing threatens to let the 1994 assault weapons ban expire next month. Assault weapons are only for people-hunters PRESIDENT BUSH says he favors legislation to extend the 1994 assault-weapons ban, which will expire Sept. 13 unless Congress acts. He isn't, however, planning to encourage congressional action because gun issues pose an election-year minefield for some of his friends in the House and Senate. That is surely a fence-sitting position if there ever was one. The assault weapons that fall under the ban are not for hunting or personal protection. They are for the efficient,...

The 1994 semiautomatic or so-called assault weapons ban expires Sept. 13. The media drumbeat to reauthorize it has begun, and some politicians are dancing to the familiar tune. Instead of merely reauthorizing the ban, however, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-L.I.) seeks to ban more guns and implement a national registration scheme. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the assault weapons ban sponsor, said on CBS' "60 Minutes," "If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate for an outright ban, picking up every one of them - Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in - I would have done it." The...

The other day, Tom McMahon, a Nonpareil staff writer, called me and wanted to talk about the assault weapons ban. An organization had surveyed several Iowa police chiefs in reference to their opinions on the law and if it should be continued. I didn't get back to him for a day or so; and when I did, we traded voice mail for another day. When I finally did talk to him, I'm afraid my answers weren't very concise. This is one topic about which I have real conflicting feelings. The assault weapons ban was enacted in 1994 with a sunset...

KERRY SAYS CALL CONGRESS BACK NOW (FOR SPECIAL SESSION)In Grand Rapids, Michigan Senator Kerry says Congress should be called into a Special Session immediately to address intelligence reform.Kerry reaffirms support for locating National Intelligence Director inside the White House says 'You get more protection for Americans, greater power and leverage to the director, if they are seen as speaking for the President.'White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said that the new director would have a large staff and there wouldn't be room for them in the White House.President Bush, 'I think it ought to be a stand alone group...

Boston, Mass.--"Our crime policy was to put more police on the streets," Bill Clinton told a cheering Democratic National Convention Monday evening, "and to take assault weapons off the streets." The former President vigorously contrasted his position and that of John Kerry on assault weapons with those of Congress and President Bush [who] are also about to allow the ten-year-old ban on assault weapons to expire. With those remarks, Clinton staked out a strong pro-gun control stance for his party and nominee Kerry this year--one that is sure to fuel pro-Bush activities by the National Rifle Association, the Gun Owners...

BOSTON Democrats begin their national convention today united on many issues, but divided on how much to make of the Bush administration's refusal to push for an extension of the 10-year-old ban on assault weapons. The ban expires at midnight on Sept. 13, and Claire Buchan, a Bush spokeswoman, said he would sign an extension if Congress sends him one. But House GOP leaders said they won't schedule a vote unless Bush specifically asks. And they said that he hasn't done so. Sarah Brady of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said polls continue to show that three-quarters of...

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408 http://www.gunowners.org Friday, July 23, 2004 Thanks to your efforts, the Clinton semi-auto ban is about to expire. The ban on magazines and firearms -- passed in 1994 -- represents one of the most hated pieces of gun control ever enacted. But with less than two months to go (and Congress being in recess most of that time), the ban is scheduled to sunset on September 13, 2004. Anti-gun Senator Dianne Feinstein, however, is not giving up and is pushing hard to...

Letter to Members of Congress from Charles Cunningham, Director, NRA Federal Affairs Charles Cunningham, Director of NRA Federal Affairs, sent the following letter to Members of Congress in response to two "Dear Colleague" letters from Representatives Castle, Shays, Kirk and Ferguson seeking reauthorization of the Clinton Gun ban before its expiration on September 13.    July 21, 2004Dear Member of Congress:You may have recently received two letters signed by Representatives Michael Castle, Christopher Shays, Mark Kirk and Mike Ferguson, claiming that various disasters will occur after the federal "assault weapon" ban expires on September 13. To respond generally to the claims,...

Few Americans favor a return to the day when military-style assault weapons like AK-47's, Uzis and Tec-9 pistols could be manufactured and sold in this country, making them readily available for use by gangs and drug traffickers engaged in violent crime. Yet President Bush has still not made any effort to stop the 10-year-old federal ban on assault weapons from expiring on Sept. 13. Seeking to prod the White House into action, two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles Schumer of New York, released a letter this week that was signed by Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bill...

ALT="Support our Advertisers! Click Here!" BORDER="0"> href="http://www.reason.com/subscribe.html"> src="http://www.reason.com/ads/rsubadx.gif" alt="Subscribe to Reason" border="0">     Reason DailyRecent stories A Glorious Sunset (7/15) Ten Reasons to Fire George W. Bush (7/13) Lights, Camera, Election (7/12) Reason Daily archive July 15, 2004 A Glorious Sunset On assault weapons and laws that fade away Brian Doherty On September 13, according to a squad of concerned ex-presidents, the streets of America will return to a grim, bloody age of semi-automatic gun murder run amok—all because current President Bush and a feckless Congress seem on track to allow the sunsetting of 1994's Violent Crime Control...

Readers take apart the Chronicle By Kevin Whited Several readers emailed today to point out problems with Chronicle copy:Greg Gotlieb notes the following: Cleland, a fellow Vietnam veteran who lost three limbs during the war, was defeated in the 2002 election after Republicans questioned his patriotism. Cleland has been a political martyr of sorts for Kerry as he accuses Republicans of trying to tear down real American patriots. That excerpt came from an AP story that ran in the Chronicle and in many other news outlets. It shows just how pervasive the bias in the mainstream news media is, and...

www.gunowners.orgJul 2004 GOA Members Shoot Down Latest Effort to Extend Semi-auto Ban Gun Owners of America 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102 Springfield, VA 22151 (703)321-8585 Monday, July 12, 2004 Congratulations! Through your efforts, you have succeeded in killing the best opportunity that anti-gunners had to extend the ban on roughly two hundred semiautomatic firearms. Liberals had intended to offer the semi-auto ban as a "killer amendment" to class action reform legislation which was considered by the Senate last week. At first, there was every indication that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was going to allow anti-gunners like Sen. Feinstein to...

This is a different poll--they try 5 times to get you to change your vote--LOL.The best part is that guns rights are so far ahead in the poll that they have to include a disclaimer about the poll not being "scientific.

With time expiring on the decade-old assault weapons ban, gun control advocates are angry at President Bush for apparently doing nothing to extend it. In fact, the president never asked the House to continue the ban, which will expire in September, because he knew it was pointless, says Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.). In his 2000 campaign, Bush said he favored extending the 1994 ban on 19 semiautomatic assault weapons. But now, "time is running out, and President Bush's strategy is to remain silent," said Michael Barnes, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in a recent statement....

On Tuesday, the Senate is scheduled to begin consideration of legislation to limit class action lawsuits -- a prime candidate for so-called liberal "killer amendments," including the Feinstein amendment to extend the ban on semiautomatic firearms and magazines. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has threatened to offer her semi-auto ban to any "appropriate" legislative vehicle, and the class action bill is about as "appropriate" as any on the Senate's legislative schedule. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has, at his disposal, a variety of parliamentary techniques to prevent Feinstein from offering the semiautomatic ban. Back in March, he chose NOT to...

Measure hailed by lawmakers, gun advocates Fearing that Congress won't renew the federal ban on assault weapons, state legislators voted yesterday to bar the sale of the same 19 weapons in Massachusetts, winning over gun-rights supporters by including a half-dozen provisions designed to make it easier to own legal guns in the Bay State. The measure would prohibit the sale of semiautomatic, military-style assault weapons such as the AK-47, the Uzi, and shotguns with certain accessories. The gun-friendly provisions include a six-year gun license instead of the current four years, creation of a review board with power to restore gun...

CAMPAIGN 2004 Sandlin, Stenholm fret over polarizing conservative voters Some Democrats in tight re-election races are opposing a renewal of the assault-weapons ban, despite its overwhelming support from Democratic Party leaders. The ban, which was enacted in 1994, prohibits the sale of certain assault weapons. With the ban’s expiration looming in September, several lawmakers are rallying to extend it for another 10 years. However, the often contentious and polarizing issue has pinned some Democrats into an awkward political position of deciding whether to support their leaders or echo what their constituents want. Democrats who oppose extending the ban are Rep....

Exploiting tragedy for political gain is nothing new for the media and the Brady Campaign, but this morning’s appearance on NBC’s Today Show reached a new low. Katie Couric and Sarah Brady used the tragic occasion of President Reagan’s passing to shamelessly forward the gun-ban agenda with deliberate misinformation. Led by carefully crafted questions from Couric, Sarah Brady claimed that President Reagan wasn’t actually an NRA member, and that he "worked hard" for passage of the so-called "assault weapons" ban. In fact, President Reagan, the owner of an AR-15, was a strong and consistent supporter of the Second Amendment and...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nick Wilcox wore a button with a picture of his late daughter and spoke of the satisfaction of joining other gun-control advocates Sunday at a rally to urge renewal of a federal ban on assault weapons. "It's always gratifying to be with kindred spirits, and that's what this is," said Wilcox, whose 19-year-old daughter, Laura, was one of two workers at a mental health department office in California shot to death in 2001 by a patient. The assailant used a 9mm semiautomatic handgun with an illegal 30-round clip,... (huh?)... Wilcox said. "I don't believe assault weapons belong...

Massachusetts' gun laws and regulations are confusing, contradictory and full of legal loopholes squeezing licensed business owners. They also appear to be ineffective, as the state's gun violence has steadily risen since 1998, when it was heralded for passing the "toughest" firearms laws in the country. Yet there remains a serious push by lawmakers and other elected officials to maintain the status quo, to uphold the current guidelines without addressing the effects those policies have had on crime, gun-related accidents, and the hundreds of mom-and-pop businesses that sell firearms. The issue alarms the state's legally licensed gun owners and dealers,...

Renewing the assault weapons ban ill-conceived An organization called the Million Mom March held a rally in Washington on Mother's Day to urge a renewal of the 1994 assault weapons ban. If you must know, the turnout was about 997,500 short. But the advocates are not easily discouraged. Afterward, they launched a vehicle called the Big Pink Rig on a "Halt the Assault Tour." The bus will crisscross the nation between now and September, when the ban is scheduled to expire. The 1994 law was a monument to President Bill Clinton's distinctive political genius--which generally involved tiny symbolic changes that...

The two pheasants that John Kerry shot last October in Iowa provided the Massachusetts senator more than a good meal. It may have given him the edge in the Iowa caucuses, at a time when he was far behind, and propelled him to the Democratic nomination. Never in the course of politics have so few birds given so much to one candidate. Suddenly, commentators and news people were comparing Kerry's hunting credentials with Gore's anti-gun stance in 2000 and counting up the additional electoral votes. Here was the man who could neutralize the NRA and still give the gun control...

RALEIGH -- Raleigh Police Chief Jane Perlov was among nearly 50 people at a Raleigh rally Thursday calling on President Bush to support the renewal of a federal ban on assault weapons. The ban is to expire Sept. 13 unless the law is renewed. The rally, sponsored by the Million Mom March and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, was part of a nationwide Halt the Assault tour. The tour, headed by a pink tractor-trailer rig, will stop in about 20 states and dozens of cities -- including in Durham on Thursday night -- in the next four months....

Just under four months from today, Americans will be able to walk out of a gun store with an AK-47 rifle, an Uzi or other weapon of mass murder under their arm. Unless Congress acts — and Republican leaders show no inclination to do so — the 10-year-old federal assault gun ban will expire Sept. 13. A word from President Bush would get a renewal before lawmakers, a majority of whom would probably approve it. But the president is silent. Most people, including most gun owners, are properly alarmed. A survey released last month by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gun control supporters marched through Washington, D.C. on Sunday demanding that President Bush extend a federal ban on the sale of military-style assault rifles. Several thousand protesters, organized by the same group that put together the Million Mom March in 2000, walked from the U.S. Capitol to the Washington Monument chanting "Halt the assault." At the head of the march, protesters held a banner depicting an AK-47 assault rifle, saying the president would be to blame for more violence unless he fulfilled a previous promise to sign an extension of the 1994 ban before it expires in...

To the Editor: Contrary to your characterization of them as "fast-fire attack weapons designed for waging war, not hunting" (editorial, April 20), the firearms covered by the 1994 Congressional legislation banning assault-style firearms are technically no different from the semiautomatic or self-loading firearms used for 100 years by millions of Americans for hunting, sport shooting, collecting and personal protection. They fire one round at a time with each pull and release of the trigger. True military assault weapons are fully automatic machine guns capable of firing multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger. Congress banned the manufacturing and sale...

State looks at enacting its own law As Congress haggles over whether to renew the nation's 1994 ban on assault weapons, some state lawmakers want Pennsylvania to enact its own. State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Pittsburgh) has authored a bill to outlaw assault weapons in Pennsylvania, saying it's needed because Congress is dragging its feet on extending the federal ban that expires in September. Some local Republicans oppose Frankel's plan and some won't commit either way yet, while York County's only Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Stephen Stetler (D-York City) supports it. Backed by then-President Bill Clinton, the federal ban outlaws 19 specific...

It is not quite the same as kissing babies, but Vice President Dick Cheney beamed as he dandled an antique rifle for his photo-op last weekend at the National Rifle Association convention. Mr. Cheney, the administration's most famous duck hunter, was on a reassurance mission, drawing cheers as he trumpeted President Bush's commitment to hunters' constitutional rights. Mr. Cheney attacked Senator John Kerry, the Democratic challenger, as a firearms wuss, despite Mr. Kerry's beady-eyed display last fall when he blasted pheasants from the Iowa skies in his own vote-hunting foray. Mr. Cheney's personal visit signaled how much of a fence-mending...

<p>President Bush probably would have gotten a warmer welcome if he had come to Downtown yesterday, the last day of the National Rifle Association's annual convention, rather than today.</p> <p>NRA officials estimated more than 60,000 people, most of them ardent Bush supporters, flooded the David L. Lawrence Convention Center during the weekend-long convention.</p>

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Gun-ban bill dies in Senate committeeBy Robert Redding Jr.THE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished April 3, 2004 ANNAPOLIS -- A Senate committee narrowly defeated a bill yesterday that would have banned the sale of 19 semiautomatic gun types in Maryland.     The bill was defeated 6-5 in the Judicial Proceedings Committee, with the deciding vote cast by Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr., Anne Arundel and Prince George's Democrat.     "I think the gun debate died when [Mr. Giannetti] decided he wasn't going to support any kind of ban," said House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat.     The bill was...

ANNAPOLIS -- With less than two weeks remaining in the General Assembly's legislative session, the lead sponsor of an assault weapons ban conceded Tuesday that "the bill is dead." The House and Senate failed to approve the assault weapons bill by Monday's crucial "cross-over" date, prompting lawmakers and advocates on both sides of the issue to predict that the bill was headed for defeat. Bills approved after the "cross-over" date are assigned to the opposite chamber's Rules Committee, known around Annapolis as the place where controversial bills are sent to die. "Unfortunately, the bill is dead," said Del. Neil F....

DURHAM -- A group of moms presented some staggering statistics about gun violence and children in North Carolina and Durham at the old North Holloway Street school Wednesday afternoon. Between 1999 and 2001, 131 children under the age of 17 died from gunshot wounds in North Carolina, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Durham County had the second-highest number of youth gun deaths of all N.C. counties and the highest per capita percentage of gun deaths in the state. Only Mecklenburg County reported more youth gun deaths. Anna Lee Mosley, president of the West Triangle Chapter of...