Summary:

On September 13, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law, which included the ban on the manufacture and sale of semiautomatic weapons deemed “assault weapons.” The bill bans 19 weapons by name (including several models of AK-47s, the Colt AR-15, the TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and the Uzi) as well as banning combinations of features found on many assault weapons (such as large capacity ammunition magazines, pistol grips, folding stocks, barrel shrouds, flash suppressors and bayonet mounts). However, the ban has a time limit of 10 years, and it will “sunset” in September of 2004 if it is not reauthorized by Congress and signed into law by the President.

IPGV supports the reauthorization and strengthening of the Assault Weapons Ban in the next session of Congress. Because manufacturers were able to work around the current ban by making minimal design changes to existing assault weapons, renaming them, and continuing their sale, IPGV supports strengthening the ban to make it more effective.

The Issue In Depth:

The federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. It was signed into law by President Clinton on September 13, 1994. Because it was only passed for a 10-year period, the AWB will expire in September of 2004. The legal manufacture and distribution of currently banned assault weapons will start up again if the ban is not renewed and strengthened by Congress and signed into law by the President.

What is an Assault Weapon?

Civilian assault weapons are semi-automatic versions of fully automatic weapons, usually designed for military use. Semi-automatic weapons fire a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, while automatic weapons fire continuously while the trigger is compressed. Military and civilian assault weapons are designed to lay down a high volume of fire, “hosing down” an area with bullets.

Essential features of assault weapons include a high muzzle velocity, a pistol grip, and the capacity to accept large ammunition magazines (clips). The muzzle velocity of a typical assault rifle is on the order of 3,000 feet per second (fps), compared to 800-1100 fps for a typical handgun and 1800-2000 fps for a typical hunting rifle. High muzzle velocity increases the damage a bullet can do to tissue by creating a larger bullet cavity.

The pistol grip helps the shooter to point the gun and fire from the hip, as opposed to from the shoulder, allowing the shooter to “hose down” a wide area with bullets simply by rotating the hips. The weapon’s capacity to accept large clips allows the shooter to fire longer without having to reload.

These features combine to increase the lethality of the weapons, making them attractive to those who intend to kill on a large scale, and distinguishing them from hunting or target shooting guns.

Examining the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB)

The bill signed into law in 1994 banned the manufacture of 19 weapons by name, as well as “copies or duplicates of the firearms in any caliber”: Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all models); Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil; Beretta Ar70 (SC-70); Colt AR-15; Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC; SWD M-10; M-11; M-11/9, and M-12; Steyr AUG; INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9, AND TEC-22; and revolving cylinder shotguns such as (or similar to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12. Through this provision in the law, Congress attempted to ban all known assault weapons currently on the market.

In addition, the AWB attempted to ban new weapons that might come on the market based on their characteristics. In general, semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns are banned if they contain two or more specific assault features, such as a pistol grip, flash suppressor, a bayonet mount, a grenade launcher, a folding stock, a magazine outside grip or a barrel shroud.

The AWB also banned ammunition clips holding more than 10 rounds. The AWB affected only the civilian market, not that of law enforcement or the military.

However, any weapons or large capacity ammunition clips manufactured before law took effect were “grandfathered,” and are still legal and circulating in the civilian market. In other words, an AK-47 manufactured in 1993 can still be legally possessed and sold today. In anticipation of the bill’s passage, several gun manufacturers began major production of assault style weapons in order to cater to a market threatened with extinction.

There is some evidence of a positive impact from the implementation of the AWB. When a gun crime is committed in the US, a trace is run on the weapon in order to gather any available information about the weapon. The National Institute of Justice reported in 1999 that requests to trace assault weapons used in crimes decreased by 20% in the first year after the ban went into effect, and since trace requests for all other guns declined by only 11%, it is clear that there was a bigger decrease in traces of assault weapons linked to crime.

However, gun manufacturers have circumvented the ban by making minor modifications to their weapons, renaming them, and marketing them as post-ban products. These weapons include the post-ban TEC-9, called the AB-10 (AB stands for after ban), and a post-ban Colt AR-15, called the Colt Match Target Rifle. These "post-ban" weapons are functionally identical to "pre-ban" weapons of the same design. For this reason, the language of the ban must be improved so that the assault weapons ban truly bans all assault weapons from civilian possession.

Proposed Legislation:

Legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and the House to reauthorize and strengthen the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. the “Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act” has been introduced in the Senate as S. 1431 by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ), and in the House of Representativesby Reps. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and John Conyers (D-MI). This legislation would not only make the federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines permanent, but it would also significantly strengthen current law to meet the original intent of Congress.