I was very much engaged in this this issue at that time (Clinton administration) and my distinct recollection is that it was Bob Dole's fellow Senator from Kansas, Nancy Kassebaum, who decided to fold and vote for cloture, thereby breaking the GOP filibuster of Clinton's assault weapons ban.
I'm not sure why Bob Dole deserves any blame for that, or what he could have done to prevent it...
There are people here that are obsessed with attacking allies, more so than attacking our enemies. The African Marxist Muslim, the Clinton criminals, and the Muslims continue to have their supporters and are seemingly ignored as the enemies of American patriots.