I am amazed that an article about the Assault Weapons Ban appeared in the Chicago Tribune that isn’t promoting the ban. It’s a good read, here’s a taste:

The 1994 law was a monument to President Bill Clinton’s distinctive political genius–which generally involved tiny symbolic changes that pleased particular constituencies without actually having much effect. It prohibited the manufacture, sale or import of 19 different firearms, along with magazines holding more than 10 rounds.

All the rhetoric behind the bill gave the impression we were outlawing military machine guns, an impression fed by references to the need to get AK-47s off the streets. But machine guns were effectively banned long ago, and the 1994 law didn’t affect them.

The guns used by the Red Army and assorted guerrillas around the world are indeed automatic weapons, firing up to 100 rounds a minute with a single squeeze of the trigger. But the so-called AK-47s allowed before the ban were semiautomatics, which fire only once each time the trigger is pulled. They are to authentic military weapons what a beer-league softball player is to Barry Bonds.

My favorite quote, which addresses the anti-gunners’ claims that those evil manufacturers are using loopholes to skirt the law, is:

Because “gunmakers have easily evaded the law by making slight, cosmetic changes to banned guns and continued their sale unimpeded.” But if you ban red cars and automakers increase their output of maroon ones, that’s not evading the law–that’s complying with the law.

Update: Oops. Added the link.

Posted in uncategorized on May 27th, 2004 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |