[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 53 (Thursday, May 5, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           REAL CRIME CONTROL

  (Mr. MANZULLO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, this proposed ban on so-called assault 
weapons will not deter crime in the United States. Automatic weapons, 
or one pull, many shots, including machine guns, have been banned for 
50 years. This bill bans one pull, one shot, also called semiautomatic 
firearms purely on how they look as opposed to what they do.
  The semiautomatic shotgun used by the President on a hunting trip 
last winter is more powerful than many so called assault weapons banned 
under the bill. The lever action Winchester rifle used by Chuck Conners 
is the old ``Rifleman'' television show is more powerful than the 
firearms banned under the bill. And, so-called assault weapons are used 
in less than one-half of one percent of all violent crimes.
  The week the Rockford, IL City Council voted overwhelmingly against a 
similar ban. Those aldermen recognized, as I do, that such a ban will 
not deter crime.
  What is really offensive is President Clinton's proposal to virtually 
eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for drug traffickers, setting 
free 16,000 imprisoned felons. You cannot talk about fighting crime 
while releasing drug traffickers. Mr. Speaker, we need to focus on the 
criminals and punish them severely.

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