NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Federal Assault Weapons Ban

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was a subtitle of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law of the United States that included a prohibition on the sale to civilians of certain semi-automatic "assault weapons" manufactured after the date of the ban's enactment. The ten-year ban was passed by Congress on September 13, 1994 and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton the same day. The ban expired on September 13, 2004, as part of the law's sunset provision. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994) is a piece of legislation, sponsored by Rep. ... Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a nation. ... Walther P99, a semi-automatic pistol from the late 1990s A semi-automatic firearm is a gun that requires only a trigger pull for each round that is fired, unlike a single-action revolver, a pump-action firearm, a bolt-action firearm, or a lever-action firearm, which require the... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas US Government Portal For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In public policy, a sunset provision or sunset clause is a provision in a statute or regulation that terminates or repeals all or portions of the law after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend it. ...

// Legal Topics Primary Organizations Liberty Belles Prominent individuals Advocates of firearms Gary Kleck Charlton Heston Wayne LaPierre John Lott Ted Nugent Advocates of firearms control Darrell Scotts Congressoinal Speech Michael D. Barnes Michael Bellesiles James Brady Sarah Brady Tom Diaz Arthur Kellermann Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) Josh Sugarmann... ATF Seal The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (abbreviated ATF, sometimes BATF or BATFE) is a United States federal agency; more specifically a specialized law enforcement and regulatory organization within the United States Department of Justice. ... The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, also known as the Brady Bill, was passed by the United States Congress, signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993, and went into effect on February 28, 1994. ... â€œGun licenseâ€ redirects here. ... Firearm case law decisions are numerous in the history of the United States. ... The Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) is a United States federal law that revised many statutes in the Gun Control Act of 1968. ... The Gun Control Act of 1968, Pub. ... Many US states have legislated gun (firearm) laws, independent of existing federal firearms laws. ... In the United States of America the right to bear arms is addressed in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. ... Gun Politics, the political aspects of gun control and firearms rights, has long been among the most controversial and intractable issues in American politics. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Bill of Rights in the National Archives Amendment II (the Second Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, declares a well regulated militia as being necessary to the security of a free State, and prohibits Congress or any other government agency from... A straw purchase is any purchase where the buyer is not eligible to own the purchased item according to the law and therefore purchases the item through a proxy buyer. ... The Sullivan Act is a controversial gun control law in New York City. ... The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994) is a piece of legislation, sponsored by Rep. ...

Definition of assault weapon

The term "assault weapon" in the context of civilian rifles has been attributed to gun-control activist Josh Sugarmann. The term assault weapon refers to semi-automatic firearms (that is, firearms that, when fired, automatically extract the spent casing and load the next round into the chamber, ready to fire again) that were developed from earlier fully-automatic weapons. By former U.S. law the legal term assault weapon included certain specific semi-automatic firearm models by name (e.g., Colt AR-15, H&K G36E, TEC-9, all AK-47s, and Uzis) and other semi-automatic firearms because they possess a minimum set of features from the following list of features: This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 380 pixels Full resolution (1928 Ã— 915 pixel, file size: 497 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Federal Assault Weapons Ban Zastava... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 380 pixels Full resolution (1928 Ã— 915 pixel, file size: 497 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Federal Assault Weapons Ban Zastava... Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 g. ... Image File history File links Kg99. ... Image File history File links Kg99. ... Josh Sugarmann is the executive director and founder of the Violence Policy Center. ... The AR-15 is a lightweight, air-cooled, magazine fed, autoloading, centerfire rifle. ... The G36 (company designation, Bundeswehr designation Gewehr G36) is an assault rifle designed in the early 1990s and manufactured in Germany by Heckler & Koch. ... The Intratec TEC-DC9 is a blow-back operated, semi-automatic 9mm Parabellum caliber firearm, classified by BATF as a handgun. ... Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 g. ... Look up uzi in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The earlier term assault rifle, refers to rifles that are select-fire (that is, rifles that are capable of either semi-automatic or fully-automatic fire), firing intermediate-power rounds (such as the 5.56x45 mm NATO, or 7.62x39 mm), which along with fully automatic pistols, provided the pre-cursor for the term "assault weapon." This article does not cite any references or sources. ... On a firearm, a pistol grip is a portion of the gun which is held by the hand that orients the hand in a manner similar to the position one would take with a conventional pistol such as a Colt 1911. ... For other uses, see bayonet (disambiguation). ... Close-up of the flash suppressor on a Sig 550. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ... Several firearms with detachable suppressors Bolt-action rimfire rifle with suppressor Semiautomatic rimfire pistol with suppressor A suppressor or sound moderator is a device attached to a firearm to reduce the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon. ... An AR-10 rifle with a shrouded barrel. ... For other uses, see Shotgun (disambiguation). ... The AK-47 is the worlds most common assault rifle. ...

(Fully automatic, such as describing a machine gun, means that a firearm can fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger and will continue to fire as long as the trigger is depressed and ammunition remains in the magazine. In contrast, the term assault weapon as used in civilian and U.S. legal usage refers to a semi-automatic weapon that fires one shot for each trigger pull, the same as any other semi-automatic hunting rifle, or semi-automatic household handgun, all of which automatically load another round of ammunition that can be fired with each subsequent trigger pull until the attached magazine is empty. Note: a double-action revolver also fires one shot for each trigger pull but is not considered "semi-automatic" since the force of pulling the trigger brings the next round ready rather than the recoil of the last cartridge.) M2 machine gun An automatic firearm is a firearm that will continue to load and fire ammunition as long as the trigger (or other activating device) is pressed or until it runs out of ammunition. ... Walther P99, a semi-automatic pistol from the late 1990s A semi-automatic firearm is a gun that requires only a trigger pull for each round that is fired, unlike a single-action revolver, a pump-action firearm, a bolt-action firearm, or a lever-action firearm, which require the... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Provisions of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban was only a small part (title XI, subtitle A) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.

The act created a definition of "assault weapons" and subjected firearms that met that definition to regulation. Nineteen models of firearms were defined by name as being "assault weapons". Various semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns were classified as "assault weapons" due to having various combinations of features. A Glock 22 hand-held firearm with internal laser sight and mounted flashlight, surrounded by hollowpoint ammunition. ...

The act addressed only semi-automatic firearms, that is, firearms that fire one shot each time the trigger is pulled. Neither the AWB nor its expiration changed the legal status of fully automatic firearms, which fire more than one round with a single trigger-pull; these had long been regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The act separately defined and banned "large capacity ammunition feeding devices", which generally applied to magazines with capacities of greater than ten rounds.

During the period in which the AWB was in effect, it was illegal to manufacture any firearm that met the law's definition of an "assault weapon" or "large capacity ammunition feeding device", except for export or for sale to a government or law enforcement agency. Possession of illegally imported or manufactured firearms was outlawed as well, but the law did not ban the possession or sale of pre-existing "assault weapons" or "large capacity ammunition feeding devices". This provision for "pre-ban" weapons created a higher price point in the market for such items, which lasted until the ban's sunset.

Two events involving military-style semi-automatic rifles in the late 1980s and the early 1990s were used as examples by proponents for the ban's enactment. These incidents included:

is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Nickname: Motto: Stocktons Great, Take A Look! Location in San Joaquin County and the state of California Coordinates: , Country State County San Joaquin County Incorporated 1850 Government - Mayor Edward J. Chavez - City Manager J. Gordon Palmer, Jr. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 g. ... is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... â€œCIAâ€ redirects here. ... Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. ... Mir Aimal Kansi, from FBI, photo taken in 1991 Mir Aimal Kansi (Arabic: ) (incorrectly referred to as Mir Amir Kansi; other names include Mir Amal Kanzi, Mir Amal Kansi, Mir Aimal Kasi) (February 10, 1964 - November 14, 2002) was a Muslim Pakistani citizen who spent four years on the United...

Expiration of the ban

On March 2, 2004, with 'sunset' of the ban on the horizon, assault weapon ban supporter Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) attached a ten-year extension to the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban to the Senate's Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. With the Feinstein amendment, the bill was voted down 8-90. This rider was widely hailed by Democrats as the only viable chance for a renewal of the AWB before its expiration. ^{[citation needed]} is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is currently the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was passed by the U.S. Senate on July 29, 2005 by a vote of 65-31. ... In legislative practice, a rider is an additional provision annexed to a bill under the consideration of a legislature, having little connection with the subject matter of the bill. ...

President George W. Bush had promised to sign a renewal of the ban provided that Congress passed such legislation and Bush was criticized by ban supporters for not doing enough to encourage the House and Senate to pass renewal legislation. The expiration came in 2004. George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ...

Opponents of the ban claimed that its expiration has seen little if any increase in crime, while Senator Feinstein claimed the ban was effective because "It was drying up supply and driving up prices. The number of those guns used in crimes dropped because they were less available."^[1]

However, "The whole time that the American public thought there was an assault weapons ban, there never really was one", the law was so porous.^[1]

Compliance and avoidance

AWB advocates and opponents alike stated that the AWB allowed firearms manufacturers to make minor changes to make their affected firearms legal, and they both described the features affected by the ban as "cosmetic".^[2]^[3] Supporters pointed to the ability to fire a large capacity magazine without the need to reload as frequently; the ability to fire from the hip with a pistol grip; and greatly reduced chances for detection when using a silencer in the perpetration of a crime (silencers were already regulated by federal law prior to the AWB); and felt that the final wording of the bill watered down the legislation making the ban much less effective. Opponents claimed that the features did not increase the likelihood of criminal use or function, and pointed out that the features banned had little record of impact in past criminal use.

Once certain combinations of features were banned, manufactures complied with the law by removing such combinations of features. For example, the AB-10 was a legal version of the TEC-9, with barrel threading, and barrel shroud removed; the XM-15 was a legal AR-15 without barrel threading, or a bayonet mounting lug; post-ban semi-automatic AK-47s were also sold without folding stocks, bayonet lugs, and with standard or "thumbhole" stocks instead of pistol-grips. As the production of large-capacity magazines for civilians had also been prohibited, manufacturers sold their post-ban firearms either with newly-manufactured magazines with capacities of ten rounds or less, or with pre-ban manufactured high-capacity magazines, to meet changing legal requirements. The Intratec TEC-DC9 is a blow-back operated, semi-automatic 9mm Parabellum caliber firearm, classified by BATF as a handgun. ... The AR-15 is a lightweight, air-cooled, magazine fed, autoloading, centerfire rifle. ... Walther P99, a semi-automatic pistol from the late 1990s A semi-automatic firearm is a gun that requires only a trigger pull for each round that is fired, unlike a single-action revolver, a pump-action firearm, a bolt-action firearm, or a lever-action firearm, which require the... Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 g. ...

The BATF technology branch determined in 1994 that muzzle brakes were not impacted by the AWB, and that muzzle brakes on threaded barrels were not an assault weapon feature, so long as they were welded or soldered in place. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE or ATFE) is a law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. ... The muzzle brake of the 105 mm gun on an AMX 10 RC fighting vehicle. ...

The law prohibited detachable magazines with a capacity to hold more than ten rounds manufactured after enactment of the law from sale, transfer, or importation. One effect was the increased importation of large quantities of magazines manufactured before the ban from other countries ^{[citation needed]}. Former Warsaw Pact countries had large quantities of AK-47 magazines of various capacities that could fit a variety of both pre-ban and post-ban AK-47 variants. Existing stocks of pre-ban American-made magazines were likewise exempt from the ban; this resulted in a brief surge in domestic manufacture of high-capacity magazines before the law took effect. Not to be confused with the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement about airlines financial liability and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the Peoples Republic of Poland. ... Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 g. ...

With the ten-round limit on magazine capacity in effect, and some form of concealed carry of firearms legal in over 38 states, manufacturers had an added incentive to design smaller frames at or below the ten-round capacity, thus replacing the previously popular 9mm and .45 ACP "high capacity" pistols. Since they could no longer manufacture the popular 15- and 17-round magazines to consumers, continuing to market the large frames designed for such made less sense. Glock introduced their 10-round capacity 9mm semi-automatic pistol, the Glock 26, in August 1994, in apparent anticipation of the legislation. In 1995, the Kahr Arms company was founded; they debuted their ultra-compact 9mm pistol, the K-9. Smith and Wesson redesigned their small, "J-frame" .38 Special five-round revolvers to accommodate the powerful .357 Magnum cartridge, introducing the new models in 1996. In the years that followed, all manufacturers of semiautomatic pistols followed suit, developing a large array of concealable ten-round pistols in various calibers, including 9mm, 10mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. In the United States, concealed carry is the right to carry a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner. ... ball and hollowpoint 9mm Luger rounds are popular handgun ammunition. ... .45 ACP cartridges .45 redirects here. ... Glock is an Austrian weapons manufacturer (named after the founder Gaston Glock) founded in 1963 in Deutsch-Wagram, near Vienna, Austria. ... This article lists firearm cartridges which have a bullet in the 9 mm (.354 in) caliber range. ... The Glock 26 is a pistol manufactured by Glock. ... Kahr Arms is a small arms manufacturer with a 22,000 sq. ... Smith & Wesson is Americas largest manufacturer of handguns, located in Springfield, Massachusetts. ... Left to right: .38 Special, .17 HMR and . ... â€œ.357â€ redirects here. ... ball and hollowpoint 9mm Luger rounds are popular handgun ammunition. ... The 10 mm Auto is a powerful and versatile cartridge for semi-automatic pistols, developed by ammunition manufacturer FFV Norma AB of Ã…motfors, Sweden, and introduced in 1983 in the ill-fated Bren Ten pistol. ... The . ... .45 ACP cartridges .45 redirects here. ...

In March 2004, Kristen Rand, the legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, criticized the soon-to-expire ban by stating "The 1994 law in theory banned AK-47s, MAC-10s, UZIs, AR-15s and other assault weapons. Yet the gun industry easily found ways around the law and most of these weapons are now sold in post-ban models virtually identical to the guns Congress sought to ban in 1994."^[4] The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is a Washington, DC based organization that conducts studies that serve the aim of furthering gun control legislation. ... The Military Armament Corporation Model 10 or MAC-10 is a blowback-operated select-fire submachine gun (more specifically a machine pistol) developed by Gordon B. Ingram in 1964. ... The Uzi is a compact, boxy, light-weight submachine gun. ... The AR-15 is a lightweight, air-cooled, magazine fed, autoloading, centerfire rifle. ...

Assault weapons ban in New York politics

New York's version of the law is very similar to the Federal version, but New York's version does not have a sunset provision. According to the laws of the State of New York, a magazine with a capacity of more than 10 rounds manufactured after September 14, 1994 cannot be legally possessed by anyone other than a law enforcement officer. A provision of the Federal law required the date of manufacture to be stamped on every newly manufactured "large capacity" magazine. Because that requirement is no longer in effect, the New York magazine ban becomes potentially unenforceable except with respect to those magazines manufactured during the ban and marked according to federal regulations then in effect. Many US states have legislated gun (firearm) laws, independent of existing federal firearms laws. ... is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

NYS Penal Law § 265.02(6) makes it a class D felony to possess "a large capacity ammunition feeding device," which is defined in Penal Law § 265.00(23) as "a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device, manufactured after September thirteenth, nineteen hundred ninety-four, that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than ten rounds of ammunition." Possession of unmarked "large capacity" magazines made after the sunset of the federal ban thus subject New Yorkers to felony charges. Police and prosecutors may be able to determine actual manufacture dates of seized magazines from information not generally available to consumers, such as the dates of magazine design changes and parts assembly numbers. The New York ban thus leaves possessors of unmarked post-ban magazines at risk of felony charges since they may not know the magazines were manufactured post-sunset and not pre-ban.

During the period of the federal ban, ATF would issue rulings as to whether attachment of a given muzzle device on a post-ban rifle was permissible because it acted only as a brake, or impermissible because it acted as a flash suppressor. As with magazines, the New York regulatory scheme implicitly relied upon such federal regulatory determinations for enforcement of the state's ban. With the sunset of the federal ban, ATF is no longer concerned with classifying muzzle devices. New York residents now may acquire or modify rifles attaching what they believe to be muzzle brakes, but which at some point New York police or prosecutors may deem to be flash suppressors, resulting in arrest or prosecution for unwitting possession of a banned rifle. [See NYS Penal Law § 265.00(22) defining "Assault Weapon" to include "a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least two of the following characteristics . . . (iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor." There is no definition of "flash suppressor" in § 265.00, which contains all definitions for the ban, thus leaving grounds for arrest and prosecution uncertain until what is or is not a "flash suppressor" is resolved by state courts or clarified by statute.] ATF Seal The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (abbreviated ATF, sometimes BATF or BATFE) is a United States federal agency; more specifically a specialized law enforcement and regulatory organization within the United States Department of Justice. ...

Assault weapons bans in other States

The states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and California have enacted similar bans. Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Largest metro area Hartford Area Ranked 48th - Total 5,543[2] sq mi (14,356 kmÂ²) - Width 70 miles (113 km) - Length 110 miles (177 km) - % water 12. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... â€œNJâ€ redirects here. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ...

Effect on crime

An informal survey by the International Association of Chiefs of Police of about 20 departments revealed that since 2004 all of the agencies have either added weapons to officers' patrol units or have replaced existing weaponry with military-style arms to counter an arms race occurring with criminals. Ron Stucker, criminal investigations chief of the Orange County Sheriff's Department in Florida, says deputies are now "frequently" encountering assault weapons in local robberies and during simple traffic stops.^[5]

An unpublished 2004 study commissioned by the DOJ found that "Assault weapons (AW) were used in only a small fraction of gun crimes prior to the ban: about 2% according to most studies and no more than 8%. Most of the assault weapons used in crime are assault pistols rather than assault rifles. Large capacity magazines (LCM) are used in crime much more often than and accounted for 14% to 26% of guns used in crime prior to the ban... The ban’s impact on gun violence is likely to be small at best, and perhaps too small for reliable measurement...Nonetheless, reducing criminal use of assault weapons and especially large capacity magazines could have nontrivial effects on gunshot victimizations. The few available studies suggest that attacks with semiautomatics – including AWs and other semiautomatics equipped with large capacity magazines – result in more shots fired, more persons hit, and more wounds inflicted per victim than do attacks with other firearms."^[6] Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 564 pixelsFull resolution (889 Ã— 627 pixel, file size: 814 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 564 pixelsFull resolution (889 Ã— 627 pixel, file size: 814 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting comprising two separate attacks about two hours apart on April 16, 2007, on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. ...

A 1999 preliminary study commissioned by the US Department of Justice done on the Assault Weapons Ban found that the "limited [study] time frame weakens the ability of statistical tests to discern impacts that may be meaningful from a policy perspective", therefore the ban’s "short-term impact on gun violence has been uncertain, due perhaps to the continuing availability of grandfathered assault weapons, close substitute guns and large capacity magazines, and the relative rarity with which the banned weapons were used in gun violence even before the ban"^[7] The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. ...

The Violence Policy Center blames technicalities. "Soon after its passage in 1994, the gun industry made a mockery of the federal assault weapons ban, manufacturing 'post-ban' assault weapons with only slight, cosmetic differences from their banned counterparts. By another point of view, manufacturers responded precisely to the changing legal requirements, making and selling exactly what was permitted. The VPC estimates that more than one million assault weapons have been manufactured since the ban's passage in 1994."^[8]

Ironically enough, however, the Violence Policy center failed to realize that the Assault Weapons Ban was based mostly on cosmetic features of guns. Rationalizations that made those cosmetic features seem dangerous and propaganda were the mainstay of the Ban.

The Brady Center is merely a political machined founded by a person with an illogical fear of inanimate objects, and can hardly be looked upon for unbiased, scientific data.

When using firearm trace data, the BATF has stated that just because they traced a firearm does not mean that the gun has been used in a crime.^[9] The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE or ATFE) is a law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. ...

In 2001, Koper and Roth of the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, published a peer-reviewed paper called The Impact of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapon Ban on Gun Violence Outcomes: An Assessment of Multiple Outcome Measures and Some Lessons for Policy Evaluation. They found that: This article is about the private Ivy League university in Philadelphia. ...

Assault Weapons Ban 2007 bill

In February 2007 a bill, H.R. 1022, sponsored by Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York was introduced that would reinstitute and expand the ban on assault weapons. It reduces the number of requirements for a firearm to be classified as an assault weapon from two to one. It additionally includes, in H.R. 1022 Section L, the expansion of the legal term assault weapon to any Carolyn McCarthy (born January 5, 1944) is an American politician and has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New Yorks 4th congressional district (map), since 1997. ... The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was a provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law of the United States that included a prohibition on the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons manufactured after the date of the bans enactment. ...

The Bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on March 19, 2007. As of September 25, 2007, 57 co-sponsors have signed on to the bill.

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