The assault weapons ban expires this month, right?

[wicket]

Anyone know what the story is on this (i.e. is it going to be allowed to expire or will Congress extend it)? Thanks in advance.

(edited for clarity)

[Wild Bill]

1. It will probably expire

It will expire unless it's attached to some 9/11 bill. Support for it is too weak for it to pass on it's own. No big deal if it dies. No one should ever notice any differance in crime.

I forgot to add it expires September 13th.

[2Design]

3. it is a big deal clinton talked about it in his convention speech

this is one of bush FAILURES.

Takes police off the street and allows assault weapons on the street.

Under Clinton, street violence went down. Under Bush it is up.

Bush is a failure.

[Fescue4u]

5. nah.

The awb doesnt have anything to do with police on the street, nor ironically AWBs on the street either.

It just banned certain features of awbs. If you want one, go down to your local gun store and buy one now. There are more now to choose from than before the "ban"

[library_max]

7. It prohibits certain important features.

For example, it sets limits on clip size.

[Jack_DeLeon]

8. Only partially true...

It stops the sale of newer magazines that have more than 10 rounds to civillians.

There however are plenty of older magazines that dont have that 10 round limit out there. They are still legal to buy and sell.

Also here is this little tidbit.

One of the most popular handguns in America is is the Glock 17. Its a 9mm handgun designed to use a 17 round magazine.

Glock also makes a Glock 22, which is .40cal.

Supposidly you can use a post-ban Glock 22 magazine, which is supposed to only hold 10 rounds of .40cal ammo in a Glock 17.

When you put 9mm ammo in a 40cal magazine you can fit 15 rounds into it.

All of this is legal by the way since the law doesnt ban having more than 10 rounds in a magazine.

The AWB is pointless.

[library_max]

9. Pointless? No, it just needs to be tightened up.

The firearms industry has been working overtime to make end-runs around it, because criminals are an important customer base for them. And nobody is pretending that the AWB is the answer that is going to solve the problem of gun violence in this country. But a journey of a million miles begins with a single step.

[Causidicus]

10. The 10-round capacity limt was a great idea......

....it spawned the development of very small handguns specifically built to only hold 10 rounds. Now, I can get 10-round, .40 cal handguns that are really, really small!!! Its great!

http://www.glock.com/g27.htm

http://www.springfield-armory.com/prod-xdpstl-sub-compact.shtml

[Wild Bill]

6. Big deal to Clinton

it's A big deal to Clinton because it's part of his legacy.

These so called "assault weapons" were use in crimes less than 3% of the time. You can still buy brand new almost identical guns today. The only difference on some of these pre-ban "assault weapons" and post-ban non-"assault weapon" is a bayonet lug.

Now ask your self is it worth it to spend a bunch of political capitol on getting rid of bayonet lugs?

Getting rid of those bayonet lugs cost us control of congress in 1994. Clinton said it himself. Great legacy a Do not nothing law and hands control of congress to the repugs.

If your serious about gun control you should go after the other 97% guns used in crimes(handguns).

[NickB79]

12. Under Clinton, jobs went up. Under Bush jobs went down

See a correlation here? Gun control laws are largely independent of actually changing gun violence. If you look up the stats (they used to be available and even nicely charted on the CDC website), you see that the crime rate peaked around 1991, and began dropping in 1993, a full year BEFORE the 1994 AWB went into effect. Also, the number of post-ban rifles made and sold after 1994 has skyrocketted. They are virtually the same as the ones banned (mainly AK-47 clones and AR-15's), but missing insignificant features like the bayonet lugs and flash hiders. Extra 30-rd magazines are everywhere and very cheap, because so many of them were in the US before the ban (you can still buy, sell and use pre-ban magazines in any rifle that accepts them). If anything, the AWB put MORE semi-automatic, high-capacity rifles into circulation by making them such a center for controversy, and thus getting the manufacturers publicity.

The BIG difference between Bush and Clinton was that Clinton focused on getting people good jobs rather than forcing them to live off of welfare, unemployment benefits, or resort to crime. You want to stop violence in this country? Boost the economy and you will see immediate and significant results, far more than any gun control laws have caused.

[jukes]

2. got my shopping list @ hand

kidding, when the time comes i'll pry the extra's from some cold, dead hands.

[Fescue4u]

4. Not till Sept.

But its dead.

It was a useless piece of legislation anyway.

Its not even named correctly. It only banned certain features of rifles. uzi, ak47s, ar15s were never banned. (I bought my brand new ak47 last year).

The only truly limiting item in the law was the ban on new manufacturer of magazines greater than 10 rounds. But that never had a noticeable effect on crime, plus this is a HUGE supply of 10+ round magazines out there anyway.

[Walt Starr]

11. If the AWB expires

I plan on buying some assault weapons.

[Jack_DeLeon]

13. When the AWB expires...

there will be no legal definition of an assault weapon.

You will likely be buying semi-auto rifles. ;)