Sunset of a misfiring gun ban
Sunset of a misfiring gun ban
By JOHN B. POSTHILL
CHAPEL HILL -- In September 1994, President Clinton signed into law a bill euphemistically referred to as the "assault weapons ban." Because it was the last piece of controversial legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress before the November 1994 election, many, including Clinton, attributed at least some of that Republican landslide to gun owners' anger over the passage of this law.
With renewal of the ban up for debate in Congress, it is timely to examine what has happened since passage.
There are three major aspects to the law: (1) nineteen types of firearms were banned by name; (2) many other guns that have a combination of cosmetic features such as a bayonet lug, a pistol grip, a flash suppressor, etc., were banned, and (3) future manufacture of high-capacity magazines that hold over 10 rounds was also prohibited. The ban would automatically expire ("sunset") after 10 years unless renewed by Congress.
What happened in the past nine years? Some claim that the law has reduced crime, though a systematic study taking into account all the many other factors that affect the crime rate -- community policing, prison incarceration rates, availability of replacement firearms to criminals, the increase in legal concealed carry of handguns, etc. -- has not been done for the majority of the time that the ban has been in effect. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control could find no proof that our nation's gun control laws, including the assault weapons ban, reduced gun violence.
But we do know with certainty that commercial behavior changed part of the gun market. Many manufacturers designed new firearms that stayed within the 10-round limit imposed by law. In the interest of giving a handgun buyer better stopping power within a small, concealable frame, new handguns were designed that incorporated larger-caliber, potentially more deadly bullets, such as the .45 ACP, .40 S&W or 10 mm. rounds. One author sarcastically referred to these new handguns as "Clinton compact pistols." A 1996 article in Guns and Ammo magazine pictured a new, smaller Glock pistol with the screaming headline "Pocket Rockets!"
We have also seen several manufacturers take steps to comply with the details of the law by removing the banned features. For example, rifles that look nearly identical to and operate exactly like a semi-automatic AK-47 have consistently been available in spite of and in accordance with the law. One rifle in particular, the Russian-import Saiga AK 7.62 is functionally equivalent to a semiautomatic AK-47 and can be purchased legally for about $200 at a gun show or dealer.
Yet more dysfunction pertained to the high-capacity magazine part of the ban. Most magazines are of simple design and cheap to produce in large quantities. Hence, they were plentiful before the ban and remain so today.
Anticipating the law, many high-capacity magazines were made and imported in order to provide future revenue for distributors and retailers. In some cases, the price of these "pre-ban" magazines has gone up; for others the price has remained fairly stable. Additionally, spare parts for high-capacity magazines are available and can legally be used to repair "pre-ban" magazines. With plenty of magazines and spare parts, the supply of perfectly legal high-capacity magazines is assured well into the future. This is much ado about a sheet metal box that holds 11 or more bullets -- hardly a deterrent to criminal violence.
Gun control advocates are now saying that not only is renewal of the assault weapons ban necessary, but that the "loopholes" in the law must be closed. But this gun ban does not have identifiable "loopholes" per se -- it is nothing but a cosmetic and ineffective law. The only obvious effects of the ban have been via the various market responses by Americans working within, and obeying, the law. Cheaper, more powerful, more compact and more concealable guns, along with plenty of high-capacity magazines, are now available to the public thanks to the unintended consequences resulting from the assault weapons ban.
Add this to the fact that the 1994 law still allows ownership of all the pre-ban "assault weapons" and the public has greater options for its choice of firearms than ever before. It is a great time to be a gun enthusiast.
As gun control legislation goes, the assault weapons ban is a laughingstock. Let me suggest that all Americans, no matter which side they are on in the gun debate, can be relieved if and when Congress permits this absurd law to sunset and be forgotten quickly.
John B. Posthill is a volunteer and board member of Grass Roots North Carolina.
