Brady Campaign - Assault Weapons in America: Military Guns in Civilian Hands

That usually sums up the argument against military-style assault weapons to almost every American's satisfaction. Until 1994, when the federal assault weapons ban passed Congress as part of President Clinton's crime bill, semiautomatic versions of "Streetsweepers," UZIs, AK-47's, and other war weapons were manufactured, imported and sold freely in this country. The upsurge in gun violence relating to gang and drug activity that began in the late '80's created an enormous demand for these weapons, which fire up to 6 bullets a second and which frequently held magazines holding 20, 30 or even 50 rounds of ammunition.

Although it is illegal in every state to hunt animals with more than 10 rounds of ammunition, and although semiautomatic assault weapons are useless for recreational activities, the gun lobby fought the assault weapons ban to the bitter end. Its tactics, and its political strength in Congress assured that the U.S. would be suffering the effects of assault weapons for years to come, by ensuring that the assault weapon ban grandfathered existing assault weapons. As a result, hundreds of thousands of assault weapons made before the ban took effect in September of 1994 may still be legally bought and sold in the U.S. today. One of the guns used in the Columbine High School shooting was the TEC-DC9 assault pistol, a gun specifically marketed to criminals to be fingerprint resistant before the 1994 ban.

In 1999, however, the bellwether state California passed the nation's toughest ban on assault weapons with overwhelming public support. With your support, other states' legislatures can be convinced to emulate California and pass laws that will further reduce the availability and use of semiautomatic, military-style assault weapons in America.

The Problem

Semiautomatic assault weapons are not machine guns of the sort used by Al Capone. The sale or transfer of fully automatic machine guns, which automatically feed ammunition into the chamber so that one depression of the trigger automatically sprays multiple bullets as long as the trigger is pulled, were restricted by the National Firearms Act of 1934 (see The Six Federal Gun Laws). These fully automatic machine guns are still available, but acquiring them requires the payment of a significant tax, a thorough FBI background check, and the approval of local law enforcement officials. Moreover, as replacement parts for these truly military guns become harder to find, the price of these weapons has steadily increased while their availability have declined.

Semiautomatic assault weapons are only slightly less deadly than machine guns. Pulling the trigger on these guns fires a single bullet, but also automatically loads the next bullet into the chamber, so that the user can fire up to 30 bullets in five seconds by repeatedly pulling the trigger. The best-known semi-automatic weapons, including the Israeli UZI, the Chinese-made SKS rifle and the Soviet AK-47 were all developed for military use, and are ill-suited for hunting.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 allows the government to prohibit the import of guns not designed for sporting purposes, which most certainly includes assault weapons. As crimes committed with assault weapons increased, President George H. W. Bush took the first step in controlling these weapons by banning certain imported assault rifles in 1989.

More action was needed, especially as it became obvious that the nation's law enforcement was badly outgunned by criminals armed with assault weapons. In 1994, a leading law enforcement executive characterized semi-automatic assault weapons as nothing more than "cop-killer guns." At the time, all assault weapons accounted for more than 17% of fatal shootings of police.

Although it took four years and enormous public support to overcome the National Rifle Association's implacable opposition, the 1994 crime bill specifically banned the future manufacture and importation of semiautomatic assault weapons with no hunting or sporting purpose. The crime bill defines semiautomatic assault weapons both with a list of 19 specifically banned weapons, and with objective criteria designed to ban the futher production of these weapons clearly intended and accessorized for military or criminal use. The crime bill also banned the future manufacture and import of large-capacity ammunition magazines holding more than 10 bullets.

Despite the support of the vast majority of the American public for the ban, in 1995 the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to repeal it. Only the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the public's outrage at the gun lobby's connections with militia groups forestalled Congress' and the NRA's attempts to return assault weapons to the nation's streets.

In the years since the ban took effect, assault weapon manufacturers here and abroad have responded by cosmetically altering several of their best-selling weapons and putting them back on the market. Colt, for example, modified the banned AR-15 into a new "Sporter" model that deleted a few accessories, while Intratec's TEC-9 became the AB-10 (for "after-ban"). In 1997, an application was submitted to ATF to import the "Uzi American" - at which point President Clinton's administration suspended permits previously granted for the importation of 600,000 modified assault rifles. In April 1998, noting that they had no sporting purpose, the President permanently banned many of these copycat assault weapons - most of which can accept large ammunition magazines still in circulation - from further import.

Assault Weapons: Key Facts

Assault weapon bans work. In 1989, when President Bush stopped the import of certain assault rifles, the number of imported assault rifles traced to crime dropped by 45% in one year. After the 1994 ban, there were 18% fewer assault weapons traced to crime in the first eight months of 1995 than were traced in the same period in 1994.
Assault weapons are not just "ugly guns." Semi-automatic hunting rifles are designed to be fired from the shoulder and depend on the accurate shooting of one bullet at a time. Semi-automatic assault weapons are designed to be spray-fired from the hip and are designed to maximize death and injury from a very rapid rate of fire. Assault weapons are designed with military features such as silencers, folding stocks, flash suppressors, barrel shrouds and bayonets which are ludicrously unsuited for civilian use.

Assault weapons were used…

To kill 5 children and wound 29 others in a Stockton, CA schoolyard in 1989. The AK-47 held 75 - that's right, 75 - bullets.
To kill 8 people and 6 others at a San Francisco law firm in 1993. Two TEC-9's with 50-round magazines were used in the massacre.
To kill 2 CIA employees and wound three others outside the CIA's Langley, VA headquarters in 1993.
To kill 4 ATF special agents and wound 16 others at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, TX, when the officers were attempting to serve warrants on the cult in 1993.

Although assault weapons comprised only 1% of privately-owned guns in America, they accounted for 8.4% of all guns traced to crime in 1988-91.

The Laws

The new California assault weapon ban is a model for the nation. Every military-style gun designed for hunting humans, rather than animals, will be banned from further manufacture or sale in California, and existing weapons must be registered. The 1994 federal law prohibited the manufacture of semi-automatic firearms that accept a detachable magazine with more than two of the following assault weapons features:

Rifle

Folding or telescoping stock
Protruding pistol grip
bayonet mount
threaded muzzle or flash suppressor
grenade launcher

Pistols

Magazine Outside Grip
Threaded muzzle
Barrel Shroud
Unloaded Weight of 50 ounces or more
Semi-Automatic Version of a fully Automatic Weapon

Shotguns

Folding/Telescoping Stock
Protruding Pistol Grip
Detachable Magazine Capacity
Fixed Magazine Capacity Greater than 5 rounds.

Visit the Brady Center's Legal Action Project website for more information on assault weapons.