Maybe someone can help me out here. Is the federal ban on "assault weapons" not permanent?
I thought I was knowledgable about gun laws, but this is news to me. Does anyone know when the ban is scheduled to expire?
The assault weapon ban, enacted as part of the 1994 crime bill, included a ten-year "sunset" provision, so it will expire in 2004 unless Congress passes a law to postpone the sunset or to make the ban permanent. It will be interesting to see what happens, as this will be an election year issue for Bush and Congress. Bush was pretty vague about his position on this during the last campaign - his campaign position papers were carefully phrased to say that he supported the "current" assault weapons ban without saying whether he supported or opposed continuing it beyond 2004. During his confirmation hearings, Ashcroft indicated that he would support reinstating the ban - it was apparently the bone he was willing to throw to the anti-gunner Senators interrogating him, so that may be a sign that the Republicans don't intend to fight against continuation of the ban.