Assault rifles are back! Big time!

[benEzra]

33. They never left. That author thinks the 1994 law banned new AR's/AK's, but it did not.

Last edited Thu Jan 19, 2012, 11:08 AM - Edit history (1)

It was a features limit and name restriction, for new guns only.

Now, *Walmart* stopped selling modern-looking rifles for a while (but continued to sell traditionally Ruger Mini-14's and Mini Thirty's), but they continued to sell ammunition and accessories for them.

I guess it finally dawned on them that by refusing to sell the most popular rifles, they were missing out on a lot of sales that had been going to local gun shops instead.

FWIW, I wrote the author of that article, but I doubt I'll hear back:

Hi, just wanted to point out that the 1994 'assault weapons ban' didn't actually ban the sale of any guns, and didn't ban the sale of over-10-round magazines. A lot of people don't realize that.

Between 1994 and 2004, AR-15 type rifles, civilian AK's, etc. could still be freely manufactured, imported, and sold, they just had to comply with a features limit and a naming restriction. A protruding handgrip, a flash suppressor, or an adjustable or folding stock were still ok, but you couldn't have two such features on the same rifle if it was made after 9/94. New guns couldn't be marketed under any of 19 banned names, but many of those names were red herrings anyway. Rather than decreasing sales, the 1994 law sharply increased sales during and after 1994.

As far as magazines, the 1994 law exempted all over-10-round magazines made before September 1994, and manufacturers had enough lead time to produce and stockpile more than a decade's worth of them, ensuring continued supply after 1994. Importing legacy magazines from other countries post-1994 was also legal, as long as they were manufactured prior to 9/94.

Prices did rise a lot on proprietary pistol magazines due to uncertainty and increased demand, particularly for Glocks and such, but availability was always pretty good. Rifle magazine prices were much more stable during the ban era due to massive importation of preban 30- and 20-round AR/AK/FAL magazines from Europe and Asia, and the abundant supply kept prices down.

I shoot a ban-era AK (2002 SAR-1) and a post-ban Rock River AR recreationally and in local USPSA style matches. When I bought the AK new in 2003 ($379), magazines were $9.99/ea for 30's and $5.99/ea for 20's, which AFAIK is cheaper than they are now. I didn't pay attention to AR mag prices pre-2004 because I didn't get the Rock River until a few years later.

As far as misuse, rifles (including "assault weapons&quot are consistently among the least misused weapons in the nation, with only about 3% of U.S. homicides involving any type of rifle per the FBI UCR (see Table 20 in the UCR, Murder by State and Type of Weapon).

Thanks for your time, and have a good day!

benEzra

Edited to add:

For those here who still deny "assault weapons" were as available 1994-2004 as now, here's a picture of a 100% ban-compliant civilian AK. This is my 2002 model Romanian SAR-1, made in Cugir and imported that year; I bought it at a local gun shop in early 2003. That magazine is a ban-era import that came with the rifle.