Senator Feinstein, others, Introduce Legislation to Reauthorize the Assault Weapons Ban

US Senate Press Release ^ | May 8 | Dianne Feinstein

[Dan from Michigan]

Senators Feinstein, Schumer, Chafee, Boxer, Durbin Introduce Legislation to Reauthorize the Assault Weapons Ban

- Bill would also close loophole in 1994 law that has allowed millions of large capacity ammunition clips to be imported into this country -

May 8, 2003

Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation that would reauthorize the federal assault weapons ban and close a loophole in the law that has allowed millions of large-capacity ammunition clips to be imported into this country. The 1994 assault weapons ban was authored in the Senate by Senator Feinstein and authored in the House by Senator Schumer.

If Congress does not take action, the ban will expire on September 13, 2004, and manufacturers would once again be able to make the assault weapons that have been banned for almost 10 years.

"Military-style assault weapons simply have no place on America's streets," Senator Feinstein said. If Congress fails to act, the current ban will expire next year. This would be a terrible mistake. This is why Congress must reauthorize the ban and close the high-capacity clip importation loophole - so that we can help keep America's streets safe from the violence produced by assault weapons."

"The fact of the matter is that there is no legitimate use for these weapons," Senator Schumer said. "That was as true in 1994 as it is today. But in a post-9/11 world, the assault weapons ban carries even greater urgency. With terrorists on American soil looking for ways to attack us at home, giving them carte blanche to pick up a Tec-9 with a high capacity clip is just plain stupid. It makes no sense. Sometimes the most basic and sensible laws are the most effective measures against terrorism that we have. I'd have to say this legislation fits that category."

The legislation would reauthorize the 1994 assault weapons ban by striking the sunset date from the original law. This would:

Maintain the ban on the manufacture and importation of 19 types of common military style assault weapons - for all time.

Maintain the ban on an additional group of assault weapons that have been banned by characteristic for 8 years.

Continue to protect some 670 hunting and other recreational rifles for use by law-abiding citizens;

and Preserve the right of police officers and other law enforcement officials to use and obtain newly manufactured semi-automatic assault weapons -- helping to prevent instances when law enforcement agents are outgunned by perpetrators.

"To the gun advocates who say assault weapons are not used for crimes, I say: Open your eyes, read the newspapers, see the heartbreak on TV every night across America," Senator Durbin said. "Just last week, in the town of Maywood, Illinois, a thug armed with an AK-47 rifle shot seven people, including a three-year-old boy. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident, and we will only see more of these tragic headlines if we allow the current ban on these deadly weapons to expire next year."

The goal of the original bill was to drive down the supply of these weapons and make them more difficult to obtain. In the years following the enactment of the ban, crimes using assault weapons were reduced dramatically.

According to the most recent statistics made by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms:

In 1993, assault weapons accounted for 8.2 percent of all guns used in crimes;

By the end of 1995, that proportion had fallen to 4.3 percent; and

By November 1996, the last date for which statistics are available, the proportion had fallen to 3.2 percent.

In addition, the legislation introduced today would close a loophole in the 1994 law, which prohibits the domestic manufacture of high-capacity ammunition magazines, but allows foreign companies to continue sending them to this country by the millions.

A measure that would have closed this loophole passed the House and Senate in 1999 by wide margins, but was bottled up in the 1999 Juvenile Justice conference report due to an unrelated provision. Since 1994, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms has approved the importation of almost 50 million high capacity ammunition magazines from some 50 countries.

President Bush has consistently indicated his support for the assault weapons ban, and just a few weeks ago, his spokesman Scott McClellan reiterated his support for reauthorizing the ban when he said: "The President supports the current law, and he supports reauthorization of the current law." Additionally, the President has also indicated his support for banning the importation of high capacity ammunition clips.

"Assault weapons are the weapons of choice for criminals and those who are seeking to do the maximum damage possible in the shortest amount of time," Senator Feinstein said. "That's what makes them so dangerous - because they have light triggers, you can spray fire them, you can hold them with two hands, and you don't really need to aim. They are not weapons of choice for hunters or those trying to protect themselves."

The legislation is also cosponsored by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jack Reed, and Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA).

[Dan from Michigan]

Here we go. Waiting for Bill Number.

BTW - Notice the RINO Chafee in there too??

[ImpotentRage]

And President Bush is going to back this. Makes me angry.

[The Old Hoosier]

Don't worry about it. This bill isn't going anywhere.

[Uncle Hal]

Lets just see how this plays out before we criticize Bush. It may not be passed by the House or it may be unaccepably changed in the Senate. In other words it may never get to Bush's desk or if it does it may be in a form he cannot sign. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

[absalom01]

Me too, but the man did make it clear during the campaign that this was his position.

In any event, this will be won or lost in the House, and the drumbeat from the NYT/LAtimes/ABCCBSNBC etc. will be to use this as a club against Republicans during the '04 election. Already started, as a matter of fact.

Now's the time to shore up our friends in Congress, not fall into internal disputes -- whether big-L Libertarian, or Republican -- the stakes are way to high.

[Joe Brower]

Argh! Just knowing that these scum-sucking statists breathe my air royally pisses me off. Cocksure, self-assured tin-pot penny-ante tyrants!

Go ahead, ask me how I really feel!

[demlosers]

Don't worry about it. This bill isn't going anywhere.

I hope your right...I don't think this anti-gun bill has nowhere near the same support as first one had in 1994. What do you think the bills chances are in the House?

[mindjam]

you can spray fire them, you can hold them with two hands, and you don't really need to aim

I hope nobody lets this wretch get her hands on a 12 gauge shotgun with 3" magnum shells if that's her criteria for wanting things banned.

[Dan from Michigan]

Chances are up in the air, and I think it depends on if there is another Columbine.

[demlosers]

The D-Losers should remember what happened to them in 1994.

[Dan from Michigan]

3 inch mag? That ain't nothin......

3 1/2 inch mag on the other hand..:)

[The Old Hoosier]

What do you think the bills chances are in the House?

Chances are zero. Trust me, there's no way this thing is getting out of the House.

[ImpotentRage]

I really hope you are right. I support Bush in many things, but when I disagree with him I REALLY disagree with him. I would write my Senator, but she is the one sponsoring this!! Besides, they never listen anyway.

[Gritty]

"That's what makes them so dangerous - because they have light triggers, you can spray fire them, you can hold them with two hands, and you don't really need to aim...." - Senator Feinstein

My only request is, if I ever have a gunfight, I hope and pray it is with this idiot. She can have any "assault weapon" she chooses, and I'll just use the "non-assault weapon" I customarily carry. I'll even give her first shot, holding with two hands and spraying with her light trigger, not even aiming, of course.

Why is it so many total nincompoops inhabit Washington, DC?

Did somebody say she has a CCW permit in Kalifornia? With firearms knowledge like she exhibits, it should be immediately revoked for the safety of the entire community!

[Gritty]

...and another thing...

Senators Feinstein, Schumer, Chafee, Boxer, Durbin Introduce Legislation to Reauthorize the Assault Weapons Ban

Why would any Republican in his right mind sign onto any Legislation they introduce? As much as I love President Bush, if he signs this I'm voting for somebody else who can demonstrate he has a workable brain!

[LittleJoe]

Don't worry about it. This bill isn't going anywhere

You're right. This is just more camera time for the California gals. Nothing they introduce goes anywhere.

I just wonder why Liberals fear guns more than normal people.

[sargon]

I wonder what the People will think when:

1. this semi-auto ban is reauthorized by Congress and signed by this President, and
2. the US Supreme Court rules that the Second Amendment doesn't recognize an individual's right to keep and bear arms (or refuses to hear such a case, allowing the lower Court to set precedent)

Will we still depend on our Legislators, Chief Executive, and Supreme Court for Constitutional interpretation at that point?

I fear that the Second and Fourth Amendments (among others in the Bill of Rights) are all headed in the same direction: oblivion.

I hope and and pray that I'm wrong about this, because the implications of such a continued legislation and Court rulings are perilous, to say the least...

[sargon]

In other words it may never get to Bush's desk or if it does it may be in a form he cannot sign.

I somehow doubt that President Bush would choose such an opportunity to exercise his first-ever veto.

I don't see him ever vetoing anything which comes to his desk, quite frankly.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"In 1993, assault weapons accounted for 8.2 percent of all guns used in crimes; By the end of 1995, that proportion had fallen to 4.3 percent; and By November 1996, the last date for which statistics are available, the proportion had fallen to 3.2 percent."

Do you suppose that this is because they weren't selling any more of them, and those that existed became very valuable, and ended up in the hands of reponsible collectors? (A burglar who nabs a pre-ban AR-15 is far more likely, after the ban inflated its price, to sell it for good money, rather than to keep it for use in crimes.)

"In addition, the legislation introduced today would close a loophole in the 1994 law, which prohibits the domestic manufacture of high-capacity ammunition magazines, but allows foreign companies to continue sending them to this country by the millions."

Deception. Those foreign imports are ONLY those that were in existence before the ban. New full-capacity magazines may not be imported for peon use.

[RicocheT]

"I think it depends on if there is another Columbine."

Call me a tin foil hat guy, but the anti-gun left seems to get a gun horror story every time it needs one to get a bad law passed. Some say the horrors are random and the left always has an anti-gun law on the back burner ready to go for it, but I wonder about the "random" part.