Assault Weapons Ban Expired - So What?
On September 13, 2004, the so-called Clinton Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 expired. The passage of this law in 1994 was yet another case of opportunistic government meddling that meant all kinds of dollars for all kinds of people, from the infernal Sarah Brady to the muckety-mucks of the NRA to the average everyday gun dealer. Now that it has expired, what does that mean to you and me? Well, probably not a whole heck of a lot.
The law in question here was officially called the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Public Law 103-322. For the most part, according to ATF, the law outlawed the manufacture, transfer, and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons (SAWs per ATF) and the transfer and possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices (LCAFDs per ATF, i.e. high-cap magazines). The law also required importers and manufacturers to place certain markings on SAWs and LCAFDs, designating they were for export or law enforcement/government use, per ATF.
Now that it has expired, what does this mean to us? Will we ever return to the days of cheap SKSs and whatnot? Apparently not, if the US government has anything to say about it. In an open letter to Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders and firearms importers, ATF says that "there is no longer a Federal prohibition on the manufacture, transfer and possession of SAWs," but it goes on to say that "Nonsporting firearms are still prohibited from importation under 18 U.S.C.
sections 922(l) and 925(d)(3). Because the vast majority of SAWs are nonsporting, they generally cannot be imported."
Sounds like we have been snookered. While we were watching the camel's nose and hoping and praying for it to expire and slip away, the rest of the stinking dromedary slipped in behind us. We Americans have an importation ban on all "nonsporting" firearms. Is that not a crock of you-know-what? What does it matter what some legislator defines as "sporting" or not? A free human should be entitled to own any gun that he or she desires, both as a basic human right to an effective means of self-defense against everyday evildoers, and as - brace yourselves, oh ye trusting masses - a hedge and defense against oppressive government... just as was intended by the founders of this great nation.
But I digress... that is not the subject of this article. We are interested in determining what the bottom line for you and I may be, now that this heinous law has disappeared.
As far as I can determine, domestic manufacture of so-called SAWs may now be resumed... and their sale and possession has never been illegal, despite ATF's quote to the contrary. But importation of semi-auto firearms that are fancifully designated as "nonsporting" by the literally nonsporting legislators that rule us, remains illegal.
Importation of so-called high-capacity magazines may be resumed, and high-cap magazines no longer need be marked "restricted law enforcement/government use only" or "export only." Yippee.
What this seems to mean is that before long, one may no longer need to shell out high dollars for a reasonable-capacity magazine, defined a decade ago as "high-capacity." That is good news. And hopefully, the ridiculously high prices of semi-auto rifles that don't look like hunting rifles may come down considerably. I'm not holding my breath on that one, though, considering how high gun prices across the board have climbed over the past ten years or so. But time will tell.
Meanwhile, I will hope for a respite from new idiotic and ineffective laws, and hope that someday soon our world will tilt back onto its axis so we can get back to enjoying the freedom we were promised by the many men who perished in founding this nation. Tough to envision that when you can't even take your fingernail clippers onto an airplane these days, but it could happen I guess. I'd like to live to see that happen, and here's hoping that you will, too.
The law in question here was officially called the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Public Law 103-322. For the most part, according to ATF, the law outlawed the manufacture, transfer, and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons (SAWs per ATF) and the transfer and possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices (LCAFDs per ATF, i.e. high-cap magazines). The law also required importers and manufacturers to place certain markings on SAWs and LCAFDs, designating they were for export or law enforcement/government use, per ATF.
Now that it has expired, what does this mean to us? Will we ever return to the days of cheap SKSs and whatnot? Apparently not, if the US government has anything to say about it. In an open letter to Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders and firearms importers, ATF says that "there is no longer a Federal prohibition on the manufacture, transfer and possession of SAWs," but it goes on to say that "Nonsporting firearms are still prohibited from importation under 18 U.S.C.
sections 922(l) and 925(d)(3). Because the vast majority of SAWs are nonsporting, they generally cannot be imported."
Sounds like we have been snookered. While we were watching the camel's nose and hoping and praying for it to expire and slip away, the rest of the stinking dromedary slipped in behind us. We Americans have an importation ban on all "nonsporting" firearms. Is that not a crock of you-know-what? What does it matter what some legislator defines as "sporting" or not? A free human should be entitled to own any gun that he or she desires, both as a basic human right to an effective means of self-defense against everyday evildoers, and as - brace yourselves, oh ye trusting masses - a hedge and defense against oppressive government... just as was intended by the founders of this great nation.
But I digress... that is not the subject of this article. We are interested in determining what the bottom line for you and I may be, now that this heinous law has disappeared.
As far as I can determine, domestic manufacture of so-called SAWs may now be resumed... and their sale and possession has never been illegal, despite ATF's quote to the contrary. But importation of semi-auto firearms that are fancifully designated as "nonsporting" by the literally nonsporting legislators that rule us, remains illegal.
Importation of so-called high-capacity magazines may be resumed, and high-cap magazines no longer need be marked "restricted law enforcement/government use only" or "export only." Yippee.
What this seems to mean is that before long, one may no longer need to shell out high dollars for a reasonable-capacity magazine, defined a decade ago as "high-capacity." That is good news. And hopefully, the ridiculously high prices of semi-auto rifles that don't look like hunting rifles may come down considerably. I'm not holding my breath on that one, though, considering how high gun prices across the board have climbed over the past ten years or so. But time will tell.
Meanwhile, I will hope for a respite from new idiotic and ineffective laws, and hope that someday soon our world will tilt back onto its axis so we can get back to enjoying the freedom we were promised by the many men who perished in founding this nation. Tough to envision that when you can't even take your fingernail clippers onto an airplane these days, but it could happen I guess. I'd like to live to see that happen, and here's hoping that you will, too.