News from The Sight M1911, Volume 168

News from The Sight M1911

Volume 168, 9/13/04

The “Assault Weapons Ban” does not go gently into that dark sunset. Its swan song is accompanied by a wild chorus of phony claims, political recriminations, unearned chest-thumping from some gun rights organizations, and dire prophesies from gun grabbers and opportunistic politicians. One statistic that has intrigued me through this latest round of the debate is that a significant percentage of NRA members are supposed to support renewal of the AWB according to polling by the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center. While I don’t pretend to know what these folks are thinking – and no doubt a significant sub-percentage of this group may be attributed to the way the questions are asked and misunderstanding about what the AWB actually does – I can’t help but wonder if the NRA supporters of the AWB support its renewal precisely because they do understand it. They have done their homework and know what a toothless and hollow piece of cosmetic legislation it really is. Perhaps they prefer this feel-good hodge-podge of cosmetic restrictions to another more restrictive ban which could appear in the future. “Lessee, how does it go? I can have a 30-round mag but no grenade launcher; or I can have the grenade launcher as long as I don’t have the bayonet lug. No, I can’t give up my bayonet – I may need it to hold off the next banzai charge by the IJN marines lurking just the other side of the Stop-N-Shop.” It’s just silly unless you understand that it’s about symbols and images.

The AWB is about conditioning people to accept incremental prohibitions on guns based on features, and we know where that goes. It is about demonizing civilian ownership of military style rifles (“…no one goes deer hunting with an AK-47”). It is about characterizing anyone who wants to own a military rifle or even a high capacity semi-auto pistol as a “domestic terrorist” or a potential mass murderer. Remember the historical setting that produced the AWB. Following Ruby Ridge and Waco, membership in civilian militia groups was expanding rapidly and the Clinton administration feared these groups in a way that was completely disproportionate to the actual threat they may have represented. Military rifles are only rarely used by street criminals and drug gangs. They were the preferred guns of the civilian militias. Symbol, image and politics – the stuff the AWB is made of.

Another statistic that has been bantered around is that crimes with “assault weapons” have decreased since the ban because “we have gotten these weapons of mass destruction off the streets.” Makes for a great sound-bite, but it suffers from a fatal flaw in logic. Nothing has been removed from “the streets” as a result of the AWB. Has anyone had any difficulty in buying a semi-auto military rifle or procuring high capacity magazines for their M9’s during this ten years? No. If you could buy a five-shot snubnose revolver, you could buy a semi-auto Kalashnikov clone. And for that matter, if you were willing to pay the inflated prices and go through the red tape, you could buy an honest-to-gawd selective fire assault rifle or submachine gun. If crime with “assault weapons” has decreased, it is because of other forces, such as demographic changes and the fact that all gun crime has diminished since its statistical peak in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The AWB had nothing to do with it.

The AWB has always been about symbols and politics. It still is. I will make two predictions: nothing will change in terms of crime statistics as a result of the AWB sunset, and it will be back. When it comes back, it will be far more obnoxious, restrictive and unconstitutional than the old, dead AWB it hopes to replace.

BAIT-’N’-SWITCH BY DAVE KOPEL

Gun-prohibition lobbyists are after much more than AK-47s.

http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel200409130630.asp

ATF LETTER ON THE EXPIRATION OF THE AWB

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/091304openletter.pdf

INDUSTRY PREPARES FOR LIFTING OF FIREARM BAN

Gun-control advocates calling for extension

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/9634145.htm?1c

ASSAULT-GUN BAN DEBATE WON'T TRAIL OFF

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/9645625.htm?1c

BAN OR NO BAN, ASSAULT WEAPONS LOCK AND LOAD JUST THE SAME

http://tinyurl.com/6gow6

EXPIRATION OF GUN BAN PROMPTS MISLEADING TV REPORT AND AD

http://tinyurl.com/5vgr5

GUN MAKER, DEALER WILL PAY VICTIMS, FAMILIES OF SNIPERS

The manufacturer of the gun used in the 2002 Washington, D.C.-area sniper attacks, as well as the dealer, settled with victims for $2.5 million.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/9624854.htm

MIRAMAR PISTOL, RIFLE RANGES TO BE NAMED AFTER MARINE HERO

Carlos Hathcock was so feared that the North Vietnamese Army offered thousands of dollars for his death. He had 93 confirmed kills and holds the record for the longest distance sniper kill. At 2,500 yards, he successfully killed an enemy combatant with a .50-caliber Browning rifle.

http://tinyurl.com/4zh58

KERRY ACCEPTS SHOTGUN HE WOULD BAN AS 'ASSAULT WEAPON'

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040907/nytu290_1.html

HOW TO BECOME A TRUE BOLSHEVIK (HUMOR)

http://tinyurl.com/52a7s

MISSOURI GUN USERS GO OUT OF STATE FOR PERMITS

County's inaction has many frustrated