I am seriously getting tired of members of the news media incorrectly reporting about assault weapons and the 1994 "Gun Ban". The items in question are what is an assault rifle, and just what was banned by the 1994 law that went out of enforcement in 2004? So, let me give you my two cents on this matter.
To clarify what an assault rifle is for those, like most journalists, who do not understand much of anything about firearms, let me put some information on the table. An assault rifle is a long-barreled (we generally take the term long-barreled to refer to any barrel over 10 inches in length) firearm designed for military and security (police, private security firms, etc.) forces. We refer to them as assault rifles because they are used to "assault" enemy troops/defenses. The major difference between assault rifles and other rifles is number of rounds that can be fired with one trigger pull and capacity of the magazine. Of course, prior to design changes most assault rifles were lever action or bolt action, but in the contemporary world assault rifles are magazine fed and capable of automatic fire--which means more than one round is fired each time the trigger is pulled. NOTE: Many rifles exist which clone (look like) assault rifles but are not assault rifles because they do not fire more than one round with one pull of the trigger. Because assault rifles are generally magazine fed, designers have spent much energy and research on developing magazines that have high capacity (high capacity is generally any magazine with a capacity of more than 10 rounds of ammunition).
In 1994, the U.S. Congress determined that assault rifles should no longer be transferred from one private owner to another private owner or imported into the country for sale to a private owner. Of course caveats to this decision existed. One, if the rifle was made before and imported into the country before Jan 1, 1987 the rifle could be transferred using the approved system created in 1934. Two, any rifle that looked like (cloned) an assault rifle or had certain features like a pistol grip was also included in this ban--with exceptions. The exceptions to clones was that they had to have a certain number of parts from a list created by BATFE regulation that were manufactured in the U.S and the parts other than those which were U.S. manufacture were required to be manufactured prior to a certain date. So, assault rifles were not banned, transfer of assault rifles to private owners was limited. Dealers could still import for their businesses, but could not transfer those firearms to private citizens. Private citizens could still purchase an assault rifle if it was already in the country prior to 1987. And dealers and private citizens could make, sell, trade, etc. clones of assault rifles if they had the requisite number of approved U.S. manufactured parts from the required parts list.
What was banned? What the 1994 law really banned was manufacture, import, sell of modern high capacity magazines. U.S. based companies could not manufacture a magazine with a capacity of greater than 10 rounds of ammunition. However, again if the magazines were already in the country, they could be sold, traded, etc. The real intent of the 1994 law was to limit the number of rounds that could be easily fired at any one time from a firearm. Of course, this law assumed that most users of firearms would not purchase several extra 10 round magazines and become proficient in their use, or that many firearms users would find high capacity magazines on the open market and purchase these magazines.
To illustrate my point I mention two rifles and one state's laws (California). What is the difference between and AK-47 or AK-74 and an AKM? An AKM is not capable of selective fire (that is to say that the AKM can only fire one round when the trigger is pulled). Most of the bird brains in the press corps have not figured this out and incorrectly call every firearm that looks like an AK-47 an AK-47 (including the AK-74 which uses a different round and has some distinctives that trained eyes recognize). What is the difference between an AR-15 and an M-16 (or any variant thereof, like the M-4)? The AR-15 is not capable of selective fire. Now, both the AKM and the AR-15 can handle high capacity magazines, including some magazines that hold upto 100 rounds. Most states do not keep owners from purchasing firearms that utilize high capacity magazines. California does limit magazine capacity. CA requires some types of weapons to have fixed magazines (magazines cannot be dropped and replaced rapidly) and limits capacity of even non-fixed magazines. Has this made much difference in CA criminal use of firearms--well, you can check out those facts for yourself.
Again, for my two cents, I really wish the journalists would get things straight and call the firearm what the firearm really is and not what they want it to be or think it is without having made certain the information they are reporting to the general public.
To clarify what an assault rifle is for those, like most journalists, who do not understand much of anything about firearms, let me put some information on the table. An assault rifle is a long-barreled (we generally take the term long-barreled to refer to any barrel over 10 inches in length) firearm designed for military and security (police, private security firms, etc.) forces. We refer to them as assault rifles because they are used to "assault" enemy troops/defenses. The major difference between assault rifles and other rifles is number of rounds that can be fired with one trigger pull and capacity of the magazine. Of course, prior to design changes most assault rifles were lever action or bolt action, but in the contemporary world assault rifles are magazine fed and capable of automatic fire--which means more than one round is fired each time the trigger is pulled. NOTE: Many rifles exist which clone (look like) assault rifles but are not assault rifles because they do not fire more than one round with one pull of the trigger. Because assault rifles are generally magazine fed, designers have spent much energy and research on developing magazines that have high capacity (high capacity is generally any magazine with a capacity of more than 10 rounds of ammunition).
In 1994, the U.S. Congress determined that assault rifles should no longer be transferred from one private owner to another private owner or imported into the country for sale to a private owner. Of course caveats to this decision existed. One, if the rifle was made before and imported into the country before Jan 1, 1987 the rifle could be transferred using the approved system created in 1934. Two, any rifle that looked like (cloned) an assault rifle or had certain features like a pistol grip was also included in this ban--with exceptions. The exceptions to clones was that they had to have a certain number of parts from a list created by BATFE regulation that were manufactured in the U.S and the parts other than those which were U.S. manufacture were required to be manufactured prior to a certain date. So, assault rifles were not banned, transfer of assault rifles to private owners was limited. Dealers could still import for their businesses, but could not transfer those firearms to private citizens. Private citizens could still purchase an assault rifle if it was already in the country prior to 1987. And dealers and private citizens could make, sell, trade, etc. clones of assault rifles if they had the requisite number of approved U.S. manufactured parts from the required parts list.
What was banned? What the 1994 law really banned was manufacture, import, sell of modern high capacity magazines. U.S. based companies could not manufacture a magazine with a capacity of greater than 10 rounds of ammunition. However, again if the magazines were already in the country, they could be sold, traded, etc. The real intent of the 1994 law was to limit the number of rounds that could be easily fired at any one time from a firearm. Of course, this law assumed that most users of firearms would not purchase several extra 10 round magazines and become proficient in their use, or that many firearms users would find high capacity magazines on the open market and purchase these magazines.
To illustrate my point I mention two rifles and one state's laws (California). What is the difference between and AK-47 or AK-74 and an AKM? An AKM is not capable of selective fire (that is to say that the AKM can only fire one round when the trigger is pulled). Most of the bird brains in the press corps have not figured this out and incorrectly call every firearm that looks like an AK-47 an AK-47 (including the AK-74 which uses a different round and has some distinctives that trained eyes recognize). What is the difference between an AR-15 and an M-16 (or any variant thereof, like the M-4)? The AR-15 is not capable of selective fire. Now, both the AKM and the AR-15 can handle high capacity magazines, including some magazines that hold upto 100 rounds. Most states do not keep owners from purchasing firearms that utilize high capacity magazines. California does limit magazine capacity. CA requires some types of weapons to have fixed magazines (magazines cannot be dropped and replaced rapidly) and limits capacity of even non-fixed magazines. Has this made much difference in CA criminal use of firearms--well, you can check out those facts for yourself.
Again, for my two cents, I really wish the journalists would get things straight and call the firearm what the firearm really is and not what they want it to be or think it is without having made certain the information they are reporting to the general public.
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