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Semi-automatic Firearms

ForumAdmin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:27:09 GMT

From NRA.org
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=59

Semi-automatic firearms were introduced more than a century ago. The first semi-automatic rifle, a Mannlicher, was introduced in 1885; the first semi-automatic pistol, a Schonberger, in 1892; and John Browning patented his famous Auto-5 semi-automatic shotgun in 1900. President John F. Kennedy, an NRA Life Member, owned an M1, a semi-automatic rifle used by the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II and the Korean War, and owned by hundreds of thousands of competitive target shooters and collectors today.

Americans own about 30 million semi-automatics--about 15% of all guns. Semi-autos are used for the same purposes as other firearms: target shooting, hunting, and protection. AR-15s, M1As, and M1s are the most popular center-fire target rifles in America, easily outnumbering all other rifles in the annual National Rifle and Pistol Championships. Semi-automatic pistols dominate NRA Bullseye and Action Pistol, Int'l Practical Shooting Confederation, and Int'l Defensive Pistol ***'n competitions. Semi-automatic shotguns are used for skeet, trap, sporting clays, and hunting. Semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns are also used for protection. Some have historic value and are popular with collectors. Handguns are the type of gun most often used for protection, and about three-fourths of new handguns sold today are semi-automatic.

How semi-automatics operate. Like all guns other than machineguns, semi-autos fire only once when the trigger is pulled. (Only a fully-automatic firearm--a machinegun--fires repeatedly when the trigger is pulled.) Energy from a fired round of ammunition is used to cycle the firearm's loading mechanism. Contrary to the claims of "gun control" groups, semi-autos don't "spray fire" and are not "easy to convert" into machine guns. Easily convertible guns are prohibited by federal law and conversion is a federal felony punishable by 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Semi-autos are not more powerful. Semi-auto center-fire handguns use ammunition comparable to revolver ammunition. All other semi-autos use ammunition also used in other guns. "Gun control" advocates refer to semi-autos as "high-powered," hoping that the expression will frighten the public. However, a gun's internal mechanism (semi-auto, revolver, bolt-action, pump-action, etc.) doesn't dictate the power of its ammunition. The question of "power" is academic, as far as criminals are concerned. A study for the U.S. Dept. of Justice found that of 13 attributes felons look for in a handgun, "large caliber" ranked 9th.1

Semi-automatics are not disproportionately used to commit violent crimes. A study for Congress found that semi-autos affected by the Clinton "assault weapon" ban "were never used in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders," and that the ban's 10-round limit on new ammunition magazines isn't a factor in multiple-victim or multiple-wound crimes.2 A follow-up study found "gunshot injury incidents involving pistols (which use magazines) were less likely to produce a death than were those involving revolvers" and "the average number of wounds for pistol victims was actually lower than that for revolver victims."3 Police reports and felon surveys have always shown that "assault weapons" are used in only 1%-2% of violent crimes.4 Crime victim surveys indicate the figure is only 0.25%.5 Murders with knives, clubs and hands outnumber those with AWs by more than 20-to-1.6

More semi-automatics and other firearms, less crime. Since 1991, the nation's violent crime rate has decreased every year, 35% overall, to a 27-year low, according to the FBI.7 According to federal crime victim surveys, violent crime is at a 30-year low.8 Meanwhile, the number of privately-owned firearms, including millions of semi-automatics, has risen by more than 60 million.9 The number of semi-automatic firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds (a fraction of all magazines) has risen by 50 million since 1994.10 Today, there are more firearms, including more semi-automatics, than ever.

The Clinton Gun Ban's 10-round magazine limit interferes with the right to self-defense. Police officers use standard-size magazines for good reason--their protection. Other citizens also have the right to defend themselves, and a magazine-capacity limit puts them at a disadvantage when defending themselves. The limit has other flaws too. First, most criminals who fire guns during crimes fire only three shots on average,11 fewer than the ammunition capacity of almost all detachable magazines. Second, criminals can easily defeat a limit on magazine capacity by simply ignoring the law or by carrying multiple magazines. And third, there has never been evidence to justify a limit on magazine capacity, let alone the arbitrary number of "10" rounds. Congress' study, noted above, found that the limit on new magazines has had no effect on crimes involving multiple victims or victims who receive multiple wounds.

1. James D. Wright, Peter H. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms, 1986.
2. Roth, Koper, et al., Urban Institute, "Impact Evaluation of the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994," 3/13/97 (www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/aw_final.pdf).
3. Reedy and Koper, "Impact of handgun types on gun assault outcomes," Injury Prevention, Sept. 2003.
4. Gary Kleck, Targeting Guns, 1997; Dave Kopel, "Rational Basis Analysis for 'Assault Weapon' Prohibition" (www.davekopel.com/2A/LawRev/rational.htm). Bureau of Justice Statistics: Survey of State Prison Inmates 1991 (3/93), Guns Used in Crime (7/95), Firearm Use by Offenders (11/01) (www.ojp.usdoj.gov./bjs/pubalp2.htm).
5. Kleck, p.112. Basis: National Crime Victimization Surveys, which identify many crimes not reported to police.
6. In 1993, the most recent year of statistics available when Congress passed the ban, knives were used in 13% of murders, clubs, 4 %; and bare hands, 5%. In 2002, it was knives, 13%; clubs, 5%; and bare hands, 7%. (FBI)
7. http://bjsdata.ojp.usdoj.gov/dataonline/Search/Crime/Crime.cfm and www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm.
8. Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Criminal Victimization 2002" (www.ojp.usdoj.gov./bjs/abstract/cv02.htm).
9. Firearms: BATFE, Firearms Commerce in the United States, 2001/2002 (www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/firearms
commerce/index.htm).
10. "Schumer Moves to Renew Federal Ban on Assault Weapons," May 8, 2003 (www.senate.gov/~schumer/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/press_releases/PR01682.html).
11. Note 3.

What is an Assault Rifle?

Sebastian — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:22:00 GMT

Folks should know a few things in the debate over so called "assault rifles." Before we can have a debate, we need to define exactly what an assault rifle is. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_rifle]According to Wikipedia[/url]:

[quote]An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle or carbine firing ammunition with muzzle energies intermediate between those typical of pistol and battle rifle ammunition. Assault rifles are categorized between light machine guns, intended more for sustained automatic fire in a support role, and submachine guns, which fire a handgun cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge. Assault rifles are the standard small arms in most modern armies, having largely replaced or supplemented larger, more powerful battle rifles, such as the World War II-era M1 Garand and Tokarev SVT. Examples of assault rifles include the AK-47 and the M16 rifle. Semi-automatic rifles, including commercial versions of the AR-15, and "automatic" rifles limited to firing single shots are not assault rifles as they are not selective fire.[/quote]

Assault rifles are regulated under the National Firearms Act, the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Hughes Amendment provision of the 1986 Firearms Owners Protection Act. They are illegal to possess without a special federal stamp, are enormously expensive, and are generally only held by a handful of collectors. They were not covered by the 1994 federal assault weapons ban that expired ten years later in 2004. Wikipedia continues:
[quote]
In a strict definition, a firearm must have all of the following five characteristics to qualify as an assault rifle:[1][2][3]

* Is a carbine sized individual weapon with provision to be fired from a shouldered position.

Barrel length is usually 400 mm to 500 mm (16” to 20”)

* Is capable of selective fire.
* Fires from a locked breech.
* Utilizes an intermediate powered-cartridge.
* Ammunition is supplied from a large capacity detachable box magazine.

Most common is a capacity of 30 rounds, sometimes 20 rounds, and also some times 40 or 50 rounds on current and newer weapons. [/quote]

The 1994 law covered semi-automatic rifles that were patterned after military rifles. They are not capable of automatic fire, so they are not assault rifles. There is no functional way to distinguish a "semi-automatic assault weapon" from any other semi-automatic firearm, other than through the use of cosmetic features that have nothing to do with the function of the firearm, or it's lethality. These military patterned semi-automatic rifles, like the AR-15, and the various semi-automatic AK-47 patterned rifles are not particularly powerful or dangerous. The veritable World War II M1 Garand is a far more powerful firearm, which no current states with strict assault weapons laws, such as California and New Jersey, current ban. Even the World War I bolt-action M1903 Springfield fires a more powerful cartridge than all modern "assault weapons"

The gun control groups have pushed these bans precisely because the public is confused about these firearms. Consider what the head of the Violence Policy Center, Josh Sugarmann, originally stated about them:

Assault weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully-automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons –anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun– can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.

Gun control groups also claim these firearms have no sporting use, which is very far from the truth. AR-15s, which is a semi-automatic rifle patterned after the M16 assault rifle, are used in NRA service rifle competition, and have been since the 1960s when the rifles were developed and began being used by the military. They are fine target guns. They also are perfectly effective hunting guns, and the market for that has grown enough that [url=http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_rifles/Model_R-15_VTR.asp]Remington has created models[/url] that fire a powerful enough round to take down game (yes, the standard .223 round is not powerful enough for hunting, and is outlawed for that purpose in many states). The AK-47 platform also d[url=http://www.countertopchronicles.com/?p=1514]on't make a bad hunting rifle[/url]. Why would someone want to hunt with one? Well, they are light. They are rugged. And they are very reliable. Also, if you're normally an AR-15 target shooter, and you want to hunt with the rifle you're most familiar with, now you can.

Given that most police departments are issuing AR-15s these days, I would say their utility for self-defense speaks for itself, so I won't get into that. But I hope everyone will think carefully about exactly what the gun control groups are demanding we ban. All firearms are dangerous in irresponsible hands, and any solution that focuses on the guns, and not the fact that we let dangerous mentally disturbed and criminally irresponsible people roam are streets is a fools errand.

Most Assault Rifle owners are the most law abiding.

Thomas Jefferson — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:35:28 GMT

Excluding cheap AK47's, Most Assault Rifles are very expense, costing more than $ 1000.00 , these are not weapons that are legally owned by most thugs or high school kids or even most people attending college. These are high end & very expensive weapons, I own a AR15 I have invested over $ 2500.00 into customizing it & I would never even consider using it during a crime.

I use this "Evil Black Rifle" for target practice at the range. Yes. target practice is actually fun . So, let's not form uneducated opinons about guns, They are tools & nothing more, they have been around for 500 years now & will be around more than likely another 500 years.

Drunk drivers on American roads, kill way more people than Assault rifles, Pistols & shotguns combined will ever...Yet Alcohol is legal & is the socially accepted beverage of choice.:(

THE TOP 10 NRA MYTHS ABOUT ASSAULT WEAPONS

ForumAdmin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:05:51 GMT

From Bradycampaign.org
http://www.bradycampaign.org/issues/assaultweapons/nramyths/

The Federal law banning the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons, known as the Federal Assault Weapons Act, was passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. President Clinton signed it into law on September 13, 1994. However, the law only passed with a 10 year “sunset” provision requiring the law to be reauthorized in 2004.

Although the Assault Weapons Act dramatically reduced the incidence of assault weapons traced to crime (click here to see the evidence), Congress did not reauthorize it, and President Bush allowed the Assault President Bush to expire in September 2004. Until it is renewed, firearms including Uzis, AK-47s and other semiautomatic assault weapons are once again flooding into our neighborhoods as the weapons of choice for gang members, drug dealers and other dangerous criminals.

The Act also banned the manufacture of high-capacity ammunition magazines (more than 10 rounds), which are again more plentiful following the statute’s expiration in 2004.

The National Rifle Association's worked tirelessly to block renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Act. The NRA has engaged in a systematic campaign of distortion and deception about assault weapons and their dangers. Here we have exposed the Top 10 NRA myths about assault weapons.

NRA Myth #1: There is no such thing as a semiautomatic assault weapon.

Response: Wrong. The guns covered by the Assault Weapons Act are semiautomatic versions of fully automatic guns designed for military use. Whereas an automatic weapon (machine gun) will continue to fire as long as the trigger is depressed (or until the ammunition magazine is emptied), a semiautomatic weapon will fire one round and instantly load the next round with each pull of the trigger. Even semiautomatic assault weapons can be fired with extraordinary speed. When San Jose, California, police test-fired an Uzi, a 30-round magazine was emptied in slightly less than two seconds on full automatic, while the same magazine was emptied in just five seconds on semiautomatic.

Playing word games, the NRA often claims that the only true "assault weapons" are guns that can be fired in the fully automatic mode and that fully automatic guns have been strictly controlled since 1934. The NRA's efforts to mislead the public in this regard, however, have been exposed by the gun industry's own experts, who have used the term "assault weapons" to describe military-style semiautomatic firearms. For example, in 1989, Gun Digest, considered by many to be the Bible of the gun industry, published The Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons. In the book's introduction, the author stated:

"[T]here will always be a place for what are collectively termed assault weapons. ... Most of them are effective for the type of warfare for which they have been designed: close range assault work. That's where firepower is a necessity either to make the enemy keep his head down so you can maneuver or, more permanently, to remove him from the action. ... There is also an element of the civilian population that is showing an increasing interest in this type of weaponry. The vast majority of these shooters and gunowners purchase assault-type weapons limited to semiautomatic fire."¹

The gun industry has also used the term "assault" weapon as a selling point to urge civilians to buy semiautomatic versions of machine guns. For example, Intratec, which made the infamous TEC assault pistols banned by name in the Federal statute, advertised its line of semiautomatic pistols in magazines such as Soldier of Fortune, Combat Handguns, and S.W.A.T. this way in 1989: "At two-thirds the weight (and price) of an Uzi, the TEC-9 series clearly stands out among high capacity 9mm assault-type pistols."²

NRA Myth #2: Firearms covered by the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban have only "cosmetic" differences from thousands of other semiautomatic firearms.

Response: Wrong. Sporting rifles and assault weapons are two distinct classes of firearms. While semiautomatic hunting rifles are designed to be fired from the shoulder and depend upon the accuracy of a precisely aimed projectile, the military features of semiautomatic assault weapons are designed to enhance their capacity to shoot multiple targets very rapidly. For example, assault weapons are typically equipped with large-capacity ammunition magazines that allow the shooter to fire 20, 50, or even more than 100 rounds without having to reload. Pistol grips on assault rifles and shotguns help stabilize the weapon during rapid fire and allow the shooter to spray-fire from the hip position. Barrel shrouds on assault pistols protect the shooter's hands from the heat generated by firing many rounds in rapid succession. A folding stock on a rifle or shotgun sacrifice accuracy for concealability and for mobility in close combat. Far from being simply "cosmetic," these features all contribute to the unique function of any assault weapon to deliver extraordinary firepower. They are uniquely military features, with no sporting purpose whatsoever.

As the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ("ATF") has explained:

"Assault weapons were designed for rapid fire, close quarter shooting at human beings. That is why they were put together the way they were. You will not find these guns in a duck blind or at the Olympics. They are mass produced mayhem." ³

ATF has also described semiautomatic assault weapons as "large capacity, semi-automatic firearms designed and configured for rapid fire, combat use. ... Most are patterned after machine guns used by military forces. They have distinct features which separate them from sporting firearms."⁴ Accordingly, ATF has concluded that assault weapons "are not generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes" and instead "are attractive to certain criminals."⁵

NRA Myth #3: Assault weapons are rarely used in crime.

Response: Not true. Crime gun traces performed by ATF showed that between 1986 and 1992, assault weapons were traced to 1,578 murders, 940 assaults, 224 robberies, and more than 4,500 narcotics arrests.6 Because only a fraction of the guns used in crime are traced by the ATF, these figures understate the criminal use of these guns. The real number of crimes committed with assault weapons may be up to ten times higher.7 Moreover, before the Federal ban, assault weapons were used in some of the worst mass murders ever committed in the United States. For example:

The McDonald's shooting - On July 18, 1984, James Huberty killed 21 people and wounded 19 others in a San Ysidro, California, McDonald's using an UZI assault pistol and a shotgun.⁸

The Stockton schoolyard massacre - On January 17, 1989, Patrick Purdy killed 5 small children and wounded 29 others and a teacher at the Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, using a semiautomatic AK-47 assault rifle imported from China. That weapon had been purchased from a gun dealer in Oregon and was equipped with a 75-round "drum" magazine. Purdy shot 106 rounds in less than 2 minutes.⁹

The Louisville, Kentucky, workplace massacre - On September 14, 1989, Joseph Wesbecker killed 7 people and wounded 13 others at his former place of work in Louisville, Kentucky, before taking his own life. Mr. Wesbecker was armed with an AK-47 rifle, two MAC-11 assault pistols, and a duffle-bag full of ammunition.¹⁰

The CIA headquarters shootings - On January 25, 1993, Pakistani national Mir Aimal Kasi killed 2 CIA employees and wounded 3 others outside the entrance to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Kasi used a Chinese-made semiautomatic AK-47 assault rifle equipped with a 30-round magazine purchased from a Northern Virginia gun store.¹¹

The Branch-Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas - On February 28, 1993, while attempting to serve Federal search and arrest warrants at the Branch-Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, four ATF special agents were killed and 16 others were wounded with an arsenal of assault weapons. According to a Federal affidavit, the cult had accumulated at least the following assault weapons: 123 AR-15s, 44 AK-47s, 2 Barrett .50 calibers, 2 Street Sweepers, an unknown number of MAC-10 and MAC-11s, 20 100-round drum magazines, and 260 large-capacity banana clips. The weapons were bought legally from gun dealers and at gun shows.¹²

The San Francisco Pettit & Martin shootings - On July 1, 1993, Gian Luigi Ferri killed 8 people and wounded 6 others at the San Francisco law offices of Pettit & Martin and other offices at 101 California Street. Ferri used two TEC-DC9 assault pistols with 50-round magazines. These weapons had been purchased from a pawnshop and a gun show in Nevada.¹³

The firepower of assault weapons makes them especially desired by violent criminals and especially lethal in their hands. Prior to the Act, although assault weapons constituted less than 1% of the guns in circulation,¹⁴ they were a far higher percentage of the guns used in crime. ATF's analysis of guns traced to crime showed that assault weapons "are preferred by criminals over law abiding citizens eight to one. ... Access to them shifts the balance of power to the lawless."¹⁵

The NRA and its supporters have cited Justice Department studies based on surveys of state and Federal prisoners to claim that assault weapons are used in only 2% of crimes nationally. These studies, however, actually confirm the disproportionate use of assault weapons in crime. More than 80% of these prisoners used no firearm in the commission of their crimes. Within the category of inmates who used guns to commit crimes, semiautomatic assault weapons were actually used in 6.8% of state prosecutions and 9.3% of Federal prosecutions.¹⁶ Both percentages are much higher than the estimated 1% of guns in circulation that are assault weapons.¹⁷ They are also far higher than the misleading 2% figure cited continually by the NRA.

NRA Myth #4: The Federal Assault Weapons ban had no effect on crime.

Response: Not true. Following enactment of the Assault Weapons Act, the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice conducted a study, mandated by the Act, of the short-term impact on crime of the assault weapons ban. The study, published in 1999, found that the ban had "clear short-term effects on the gun market," leading to semiautomatic assault weapons "becom[ing] less accessible to criminals because there was at least a short-term decrease in criminal use of the banned weapons."¹⁸

According to the study, ATF data showed that crime gun traces of assault weapons dropped 20% in the year following enactment of the Assault Weapons Act, from 4,077 assault weapon traces in 1994 to 3,268 in 1995. This 20% drop in assault weapon traces was double the 10% overall decline in the gun murder rate that year, suggesting that, at least in the short-term, the ban reduced the use of assault weapons in crime. Moreover, murder rates dropped 6.7% below what the rates were projected to be without the ban, once researchers isolated the impact of the Assault Weapons Act by accounting for other factors such as murder trends, demographic and economic changes, a Federal juvenile handgun possession ban, and state initiatives.¹⁹

The National Institute of Justice study also found further evidence that the national decrease in assault weapons traced to crime was an effect of the ban. Assault weapon traces from states that already had their own assault weapons bans dropped only an estimated 6-8% in 1995, suggesting that the national downward trend in assault weapons traces reflects the effect of the Federal ban.²⁰

NRA Myth #5: ATF crime gun trace data does not show the Assault Weapons Ban to be effective.

Response: Wrong. According to a study published by the Brady Center called, On Target: The Impact of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Act, the Federal ban has reduced the incidence of assault weapons use in crime.²¹ In the five year period (1990-1994) before enactment of the Federal Assault Weapons Act, assault weapons named in the Act constituted 4.82% of the crime gun traces ATF conducted nationwide. Since the law's enactment, however, these assault weapons have made up only 1.61% of the guns ATF has traced to crime - a drop of 66% from the pre-ban rate. Moreover, ATF trace data show a steady year-by-year decline in the percentage of assault weapons traced, suggesting that the longer the statute has been in effect, the less available these guns have become for criminal misuse. Indeed, the absolute number of assault weapons traced has also declined during a period when the number of ATF crime gun traces almost tripled.

The On Target study also concluded that if the Act had not been passed and the banned assault weapons continued to make up the same percentage of crime gun traces as before the Act's passage, approximately 60,000 additional assault weapons would have been traced to crime in the last 10 years - an average of 6,000 additional assault weapons traced to crime each year. Former ATF officials at Crime Gun Solutions, LLC, including the former Special Agent in Charge of ATF's National Tracing Center, analyzed the data for the Brady Center and support the study's conclusions.

This analysis is based on crime gun trace data compiled by ATF of more than 1.4 million crime guns recovered across the United States between 1990 and 2001. Contrary to the NRA's claim that traced guns may have no connection with crime, ATF itself has said that traced guns are "crime guns," which means they have been "illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected of having been used in a crime."²²The sheer size of the crime gun trace data - 1.4 million guns and counting - also rebuts the idea that the trace data does not provide a meaningful sample of guns used in crime. As the National Institute of Justice researchers found, two cities that comprehensively traced firearms before the ban took effect - Boston and St. Louis - showed similar post-ban declines in the percentage of assault weapons they traced to crime. This supports the conclusion that the drop in assault weapon use in crime was attributable to the ban and not to any potential biases in trace request data.²³ The conclusions in the On Target study are similar to an analysis of assault weapons traced to crime done for United States Senators Dianne Feinstein and Charles Schumer.²⁴

NRA Myth #6: Assault weapons pose no special threat to law enforcement.

Response: False. In the 1980s and early 1990s, law enforcement reported that assault weapons were the "weapons of choice" for drug traffickers, gangs, terrorists, and paramilitary extremist groups that they often faced in violent encounters. As Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said recently:

There is a reason that these weapons are so appealing to criminals. They are designed to be easily concealed and kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Congress must act and act now to protect the American public and our police officers from these deadly weapons. This is about public safety and law enforcement.²⁵

Because of their high firepower, assault weapons in the hands of criminals leave the police badly outgunned. Congress acted to ban these guns in 1994 after learning of the tragic consequences of these guns for our nation's law enforcement officers.²⁶ For example:

Manassas, VA, July 24, 1988 - Five Manassas City police officers responded to a call about shots being fired in a quiet Washington, DC suburb. The gunman, armed with an AR-15 assault weapon, opened fire on Sergeant John D. Connors III, hitting him in the head, chest, arm, and leg. He became the first officer killed in the line of duty in the department's 113 year history.²⁷

Los Angeles, CA, September 3, 1988 - Los Angeles Police Officer Daniel Pratt was following a vehicle suspected to have been involved in an earlier drive-by shooting when approximately 30 rounds were fired at his police car by gang members armed with an AR-15. Pratt was shot in the face and pronounced dead at the hospital. Three children and his wife, pregnant with their fourth child, survived him.²⁸

Dallas, TX, December 13, 1988 - A 17-year veteran senior corporal with the Dallas Police Department was killed while making an undercover cocaine purchase. The officer was killed when the assailant pulled a TEC-9 assault pistol from under his coat and fired seven shots.²⁹

Dayton, OH, March 21, 1991 - A 15 year veteran of the Dayton police force, William "Steve" Whalen, was shot and killed by a mentally ill man armed with an AR-15. The deranged suspect had been pursued by two officers for firing shots at a local motel. Upon being pulled over, the suspect sprayed the officers with fire, killing Whalen and wounding Lt. Randy Beane.³⁰

Northridge, CA, February 22, 1994 - Officer Christy Lynne Hamilton of the Los Angeles Police Department was gunned down with an AR-15 assault rifle by a teenager who had already used the gun to kill his father. Officer Hamilton graduated from the Police Academy three days prior to the shooting.³¹

For these reasons, law enforcement has been united in support of banning these weapons. Every major national law enforcement organization in the country supported the Federal Assault Weapons Act and worked for its passage. The police groups fighting to save the statute include the Fraternal Order of Police, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Major Cities Chiefs, International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, National Black Police Association, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Police Executive Research Forum, and Police Foundation.

NRA Myth #7: Even without the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, AK-47s and UZIs won't flood our neibhborhoods because they are covered by the Import Ban.

Response: False. Prior to passage of the Federal assault weapons ban, the importation of certain types of assault weapons from overseas was banned during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations. Such bans were ordered by ATF under the 1968 Gun Control Act, which bans the importation of guns that are not "particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes."³²

Under the Reagan Administration, ATF blocked the importation of certain models of shotguns that were not suitable for sporting purposes. In 1989, during the George H.W. Bush Administration, ATF expanded this list to permanently ban the importation of 43 types of semiautomatic assault rifles that were also determined to have no sporting purpose. Later, in 1998, President Clinton banned the importation of 58 additional foreign-made "copycat" assault weapons in order to close a loophole in the prior import ban.³³

Even though these import restrictions have not expired, they do not affect the domestic production of assault weapons. After the Federal ban lapsed, it is again legal to manufacture AK-47s, Uzis, and other assault weapons domestically. Similarly, a domestic Saturday Night Special industry sprung up overnight once Congress banned importation of the low-quality pistols in 1968 after one was used to assassinate Robert Kennedy.³⁴

NRA Myth #8: Assault weapons, and high-capacity magazines that were banned at the same time, are needed for self-defense.

Response: False. As explained above, assault weapons utilize military features useful in combat, but which have no civilian purpose. Assault weapons are exceedingly dangerous if used in self defense, because the bullets many of the weapons fire are designed to pass through humans and will pass through structures, and therefore pose a heightened risk of hitting innocent bystanders. As Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police has explained: "An AK-47 fires a military round. In a conventional home with dry-wall walls, I wouldn't be surprised if it went through six of them."37 No one would want a bullet fired in self defense to penetrate a home's walls, where it could strike bystanders in neighboring homes.

High capacity magazines containing more than 10 rounds, which were also banned as part of the Federal Assault Weapons Act, are also not useful for self defense, as law enforcement expert Leonard J. Supenski has testified:

"The typical self-defense scenario in a home does not require more ammunition than is available in a standard 6-shot revolver or 6-10 round semiautomatic pistol. In fact, because of potential harm to others in the household, passersby, and bystanders, too much firepower is a hazard. Indeed, in most self-defense scenarios, the tendency is for defenders to keep firing until all bullets have been expended."³⁶

Assault weapons were designed for military use. They have no legitimate use as self defense weapons.

NRA Myth #9: The Federal Assault Weapons Ban is unconstitutional.

Response: Wrong. The Federal ban has been challenged in court by the NRA and members of the gun industry. However, Federal courts have rejected all legal challenges to the law.

In October 2000, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge brought by notorious assault weapon manufacturer Navegar, Inc. d/b/a Intratec, after the case had been dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.37 The Circuit Court had rejected Navegar's arguments that the statute exceeded the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce and constituted an unconstitutional bill of attainder.

The NRA also brought its own lawsuit against the statute in Michigan Federal court, but was dismissed by the court for lack of standing to sue. Assault weapon maker Olympic Arms continued the suit, which was dismissed by a Federal judge in March of 2000. On appeal, the ruling was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in August 2002.³⁸

Even though the NRA repeatedly has claimed that the Federal Assault Weapons Act violates the Second Amendment, it have never brought a Second Amendment challenge to the law in court, and did not raise the Second Amendment when it filed suit in Michigan to try to strike down the ban.

NRA Myth #10: The Federal Assault Weapons Ban is just the first step on a slippery slope to ban all guns in America.

Response: Wrong. There is no hidden agenda behind saving the Federal Assault Weapons Act. As explained above, assault weapons are a well-defined set of firearms designed for military combat, not civilian use. Moreover, the original Act specifically exempted 661 rifles and shotguns from its reach.³⁹ Renewal of the assault weapons law is needed to protect our communities and prevent a return to the mass shootings and increasing gun crime in the period before the Federal ban was passed.

Endnotes

1. Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons (Jack Lewis, ed., 2d ed. 1989) at 5 (emphasis added).
2. Petersen's Handguns (March 1989).
3. ATF, Assault Weapons Profile, at 19 (1994) (emphasis added).
4. ATF, Assault Weapons Profile, at 20.
5. Dep't of Treasury, Study on the Sporting Suitability of Modified Semiautomatic Assault Rifles, at 38 (1998).
6. 140 Cong. Rec. H3079 (statement of Rep. Lazio).
7. See H.R. Rep. No. 102-242, pt. 1, at 203 (1991).
8. Satellite College Campus Helps to Heal the Scars at San Ysidro Massacre, Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1989; A 77-Minute Moment in History That Will Never Be Forgotten, Los Angeles Times, July 16, 1989.
9. School Killer's Last Days and The Kinds of Guns School Killer Used, San Francisco Chronicle, January 19, 1989.
10. "Rampage in Louisville," Atlanta Constitution, September 15, 1989.
11. "CIA Killings Prompt Scrutiny on 2 Fronts; Fairfax Loophole Expedited Gun Purchase," Washington Post, February 11, 1993.
12. "Cult's Massive Weapons Purchases Stir Up a Furor Over Federal Regulation," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 2, 1993.
13. "Ferri Used Guns That California Ban Does Not Forbid," San Francisco Examiner, July 4, 1993.
14. Marianne Zawitz, Guns Used in Crime, U.S. Dep't of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (1995) at 6.
15. ATF, Assault Weapons Profile, at 19-20.
16. NIJ, Firearm Use By Offenders (2001) at 2-3.
17. See supra n. 15.
18. Jeffrey A. Roth and Christopher S. Koper, Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban: 1994-96, at 1, 9 U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice 1999 available at: www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/173405.pdf).
19. Id. at 6, 9.
20. Id. at 6-7.
21. The On Target study is available at www.gunlawsuits.org.
22. ATF, The Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative, Crime Gun Trace Analysis Reports: The Illegal Youth Firearms Market in 27 Communities, at 5 (1999).
23. Id.
24. See report released on November 5, 2003, accessible at http://feinstein.senate.gov/03Releases/r-assaultwepsrate1.htm.
25. Mayor Hahn, Chief Bratton Unite With Leaders Across Country To Demand Renewal Of Assault Weapons Ban, release accessed at www.lacity.org (Apr. 27, 2004).
26. See H.R. Rep. No. 103-489, at 14-15 (citing testimony about several assault weapons shootings).
27. "First Manassas Officer Killed in Line of Duty," The Washington Post, March 20, 1989.
28. Officer Slain Responding to Drive-By Gang Shooting", The Los Angeles Times, September 5, 1988.
29. "Gunfire Over Foiled Drug Deal Kills Dallas Officer, Suspect", The Houston Chronicle, Dec. 14, 1988.
30. "An Officer Falls", Dayton Daily News, March 23, 1991.
31. Cops Under Fire: Law Enforcement Officers Killed With Assault Weapons or Guns With High Capacity Magazines, Handgun Control, Inc. (now the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence) (1995) at 1.
32. On March 21, 1989, ATF announced a temporary suspension of the importation of five assault weapons. On March 29, 1989, ATF expanded the scope of the suspension to cover all assault weapons "indistinguishable in design, appearance and function to the original five" and established a working group to decide whether to make this import ban permanent. On March 30, 1989, a gun importer challenged ATF's authority to suspend the importation of these weapons. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld ATF's authority to issue the import suspensions. Gun South, Inc. v. Brady, 877 F.2d 858 (11th Cir. 1989). ATF then issued its working group report and, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 925(d)(3), made the import ban permanent. ATF, Report and Recommendation of the ATF Working Group on the Importability of Certain Semiautomatic Rifles (July 6, 1989).
33. In April 1998, ATF determined that the 1989 ban on the importation of assault rifles remained valid and expanded the import ban to include rifles with the "ability to accept a detachable large capacity military magazine" because those weapons "cannot fairly be characterized as sporting rifles." ATF, Department of the Treasury Study on the Sporting Suitability of Modified Semiautomatic Assault Rifles (April 1998).
34. Garen Wintemute, Ring of Fire: The Handgun Makers of Southern California, Violence Prevention Research Program, Sacramento, CA (1994).
35. "Police Fear a Future of Armored Enemies", USA Today, March 3, 1997.
36. Declaration of Leonard J. Supenski in Support of Plaintiffs' Joint Opposition to Navegar, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment or, in the Alternative, Summary Adjudication, In re 101 California Street Bldg., No. 959316 (Sup. Ct. Cal. 1996) at 8.
36. Navegar, Inc. v. U.S., 192 F.3d 1050 (D.C. Cir. 1999), cert. Denied, 121 S. Ct. 53 (2000).
37. National Rifle ***'n of America v. Magaw, 132 F.3d 272 (6th Cir. 1997).
38. 18 U.S.C. §922(v), Appendix A.

What is an assault rifle?

Thomas — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:46:58 GMT

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.

--Adolf Hitler--

The head of the Violence Policy Center, Josh Sugarmann, of "assault weapons said that the "Assault weapons's menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully-automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons –anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun– can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons." Mr. Sugarmann, here advocates a willful deceiving of the American public in order to foster public support for a ban. What Sugarman advocates--wilful withholding of the truth--is just as much a lie as actually telling the public that machine guns and semi-automatics are synonomous.

Like Adolf Hitler and the infamous NAZI Propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, Sugarmann seems to ascribe to the belief that if you tell the lie often enough and long enough, the public will believe it.
I vividly remember a television news presentation on the "assault weapon" debate in 1994. A person was shown shooting a full-automatic UZI submachine gun. Said the announcer, "These are the types of weapons that will be banned under the assault weapon ban." That anti-gun news presentation was blatant proof of how far the anti-gun lobby was willing to go to deceive the American public into supporting the proposed ban, which was later made into law.
The assault rifle was invented by the Germans in World War II. They wanted an arm that was not as powerful as the full-power battle rifle and that would be capable of full or semi-automatic fire. The full-power 8mm Mauser rifle cartridge was shortened and a lighter bullet loaded in the case. With less powder and a lighter bullet, the weapon could be more easily controlled in full-auto mode. The Soviet AK 47 assault rifle was modeled after the German weapon.
Now, the anti-gun politicians and proponents of another "assault weapon" ban (the 1994 ban expired) won't tell you the difference between a semi-auto and a full-auto firearm because, like Josh Sugarmann, they don't want you to know. They want you to remain ignorant so you can be more easily deceived.
Semi-auto means one shot fired for each pull of the trigger. Full auto means that the weapon will fire as long as the trigger kept pulled back or the magazine is emptied.
What the gun ban proponents will never tell you either is the semi-automatic military-look-alike renditions of the AK-47 are not capable of full-automatic fire, nor are the AR-15 semi-auto versions of the M-16. Nor are the other military-style semiautomatic weapons like the SKS, FAL, M1-A or any of the others.
Despite Department of Justice studies which have found that so-called assault weapons are only used in crimes a fraction of a percent, the gun banners continue to cry for another ban. It seems ludicrous to take semi-automatic "assault weapons" from law-abiding gun owners with the excuse that the gun owners will no longer be able to commit any crimes with the weapons or that the weapons will thus be kept out of the hands of criminal gang members, especially if gang members already have full-automatic weapons obtained on the black market.
The American people need to wake and realize they've been lied to by Barak Obama, Josh Sugarmann, Sarah Brady, Diane Feinstein, Charlie Schumer, Hillary Clinton and all the other lying anti-gun liberals.

NAZIS ordered citizens to surrender "military-type" firearms

Thomas — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:30:39 GMT

The BRADY CAMPAIGN folks weren't the first to advocate banning of military-style firearms or strict control or banning of other firearms. Read this:

"If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves."
- Joseph Stalin

"One man with a gun can control 100 without one. Make mass searches and hold executions for found arms."
- Lenin

"The measures adopted to restore public order are: First of all, the elimination of the so-called subversive elements. ... They were elements of disorder and subversion. On the morrow of each conflict I gave the categorical order to confiscate the largest possible number of weapons of every sort and kind. This confiscation, which continues with the utmost energy, has given satisfactory results."
- Benito Mussolini

All military type firearms are to be handed in immediately...The SS, SA and Stahlhelm give every responsible opportunity of campaigning with them. Therefore anyone who does not belong to one of the above-named organizations and who unjustifiably nevertheless keeps his weapon...must be regarded as an enemy of the national government."
- SA Oberfuhrer of Bad Tolz, March, 1933

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to
possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry
arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing."

-Adolf Hitler-

"Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA - ordinary citizens don't need
guns, as their having guns doesn't serve the State."
- Heinrich Himmler, Hitler's SS leader.
_____________________________________________________________
"At that time, a gun and a million dollars, the gun was worth more than a million dollars, because you could, at least, you could defend yourself with something."
- Frank Bleichman, Polish Jew who resisted the Nazis during WWII

"There is no doubt in my mind that millions of lives could have been saved if the people had not been 'brainwashed' about gun ownership and they had been well armed. Hitler's thugs and goons were not very brave when confronted by a gun. Gun haters always want to forget the WarsawGhetto uprising, which is a perfect example of how a ragtag, half starved group of Jews took up 10 handguns and made asses out of the Nazi's."
- Theodore Haas, former prisoner of the infamous Dachau prisoner concentration camp