[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 68 (Thursday, May 8, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5971-S5973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Chafee, Mr. 
        Jeffords, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Lautenberg, Mrs. Boxer, 
        and Mr. Reed):
  S. 1034. A bill to repeal the sunset date on the assault weapons ban, 
to ban the importation of large capacity ammunition feeding devices, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
with Senators Chuck Schumer, Lincoln Chafee, Barbara Boxer, Dick 
Durbin, Jack Reed, Frank Lautenberg, Jim Jeffords, and Edward Kennedy 
that would permanently reauthorize the assault weapons ban and close 
the clip-importation loophole.
  Military-style assault weapons simply have no place on America's 
streets. But if Congress fails to act, the current ban will expire next 
year. This would be a terrible mistake.
  This is why Congress must reauthorize the ban and close the high-
capacity

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clip importation loophole so that we can help keep America's streets 
safe from the violence produced by assault weapons.
  Almost 10 years ago on July 1, 1993 Gian Luigi Ferri walked into 101 
California Street in San Francisco carrying two high-capacity TEC-9 
assault pistols.
  Within minutes, he had murdered eight people, and six others were 
wounded. This tragedy shook San Francisco and the entire nation.
  We saw with absolute clarity the destruction that could be inflicted 
with these military-style assault weapons.
  Navegar's advertising for the TEC-9 touted the gun as being for 
`paramilitary' use and `resistant to fingerprints,' with a `military 
non-glare finish,' a `military blowback system,' and `combat-type' 
sights.
  Guns like these are the weapons of choice to commit crimes. They are 
the weapons of choice for drive-by shooters, criminals going into a 
major criminal event, and malcontents who are seeking to do the maximum 
damage possible in the shortest amount of time.
  That's what makes them so dangerous because they have light triggers, 
you can spray fire them, you can hold them with two hands, and you 
don't really need to aim.
  They are not weapons of choice for hunting or defensive purposes.
  In the aftermath of 101 California and countless other shootings, I 
decided to do something that no one had succeeded in doing before: to 
ban the manufacture and importation of military style assault weapons.
  I authored the bill in the Senate, and Senator Schumer authored it in 
the House of Representatives.
  I remember all the late night calls I got and all the friends who 
took me aside and said to me: ``Don't do it. The gunners are too 
powerful. You'll never ever win.''
  Well, we did win. We passed the first-ever ban on assault weapons, 
and since September 13, 1994, it has been illegal to manufacture and 
import military-style assault weapons.
  The hope of the bill has been to drive down the supply of these 
weapons and make them more expensive to obtain.
  And in the years following the enactment of the ban, crimes using 
assault weapons were reduced dramatically.
  In 1993, assault weapons accounted for 8.2 percent of all guns used 
in crimes; By the end of 1995, that proportion had fallen to 4.3 
percent--a dramatic drop; and by November 1996, the last date for which 
statistics are available, the proportion had fallen to 3.2 percent.
  These are dramatic results, which show that the Assault Weapons ban 
has worked. We have had trouble getting updated statistics from this 
Justice Department, but it is clear that after we banned these guns, 
criminals used them less frequently in crime.
  Unfortunately, to get the bill passed in 1994, we had to agree to a 
ten-year sunset in the bill--and this is why we are here today. If we 
do not re-authorize the 1994 assault weapons ban this Congress, it will 
expire on September 13, 2004.
  That means that at the end of next year, manufacturers could once 
again begin making AK-47s, TEC-9s, and other banned guns that have but 
one purpose--to kill other human beings.
  We are here today because we believe that this would be a terrible 
mistake--with deadly consequences for thousands of Americans each year.
  So today we will introduce legislation to do two simple things. 
First, the legislation would reauthorize the 1994 assault weapons ban 
by striking the sunset date from the original law. This would ban the 
manufacture of 19 types of common military style assault weapons--for 
all time.
  It would ban an additional group of these assault weapons that have 
been banned by characteristic for 8 years.
  It would protect some 670 hunting and other recreational rifles for 
use by law-abiding citizens.
  And it would preserve the right of police officers and other law 
enforcement officials to use and obtain newly manufactured semi-
automatic assault weapons--helping to prevent instances when law 
enforcement agents are outgunned by perpetrators.
  We certainly would like a stronger bill that would tighten the ban--
based on our 10 years of experience of what the gun companies have done 
to get around the bill.
  But unfortunately there is not the support for that right now. If the 
support becomes evident, then we may amend the bill at a later date.
  Second, the legislation would close a loophole in the 1994 law, which 
prohibits the domestic manufacture of high-capacity ammunition 
magazines, but allows foreign companies to continue sending them to 
this country by the millions.
  A measure that would have closed this loophole passed the House and 
Senate in 1999 by wide margins, but got bottled up in a larger 
conference due to an unrelated provision.
  The result: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has approved 
the importation of almost 50 million high capacity ammunition magazines 
from some 50 countries since 1994.
  It is these large clips, drums, and strips that allow lone gunmen, or 
small groups of teenagers, to inflict so much damage in such a small 
amount of time.
  We must close this loophole now.
  The good news: President Bush has indicated that he supports each of 
these provisions. During the 2000 Presidential Campaign, President Bush 
indicated that he supported both reauthorization of the assault weapons 
ban and closing the clip importation loophole.
  And just a few weeks ago, President Bush's spokesman Scott McClellan 
reiterated his support for reauthorizing the ban when he said: ``The 
President supports the current law, and he supports reauthorization of 
the current law.''
  It is therefore our hope that the President will work with us to see 
this bill passed. We welcome the President's support and look forward 
to working with him to gain swift passage of this legislation.
  One of the best examples of the damage that assault weapons can 
inflict is the massacre in Littleton, Colorado.
  On April 24, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used a TEC DC-9 
semi-automatic pistol to attack the students and teachers of Columbine 
High School.
  They used this weapon to take the lives of 13 innocents, 12 students 
and 1 teacher, and injured dozens more mothers, fathers, sons and 
daughters.
  I do not believe that the 2nd Amendment protects military assault 
weapons. The Constitution is not an umbrella for mayhem. The Bill of 
Rights is not a guarantor of violence.
  Congress has passed this legislation once--it is time to pass the 
assault weapons ban again.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1034

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Assault Weapons Ban 
     Reauthorization Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. REPEAL OF SUNSET DATE.

       Section 110105 of the Public Safety and Recreational 
     Firearms Use Protection Act (18 U.S.C. 921 note) is amended 
     to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 110105. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       ``This subtitle and the amendments made by this subtitle 
     shall take effect on September 13, 1994.''.

     SEC. 3. BAN ON IMPORTING LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEEDING 
                   DEVICES.

       (a) In General.--Section 922(w) of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(1) Except as provided 
     in paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``(1)(A) Except as provided 
     in subparagraph (B)'';
       (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``(2) Paragraph (1)'' and 
     inserting ``(B) Subparagraph (A)'';
       (3) by inserting before paragraph (3) the following:
       ``(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to import a large 
     capacity ammunition feeding device.''; and
       (4) in paragraph (4)--
       (A) by striking ``(1)'' each place it appears and inserting 
     ``(1)(A)''; and
       (B) by striking ``(2)'' and inserting ``(1)(B)''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 921(a)(31) of title 18, 
     United States Code, is amended by striking ``manufactured 
     after the date of enactment of the Violent Crime Control and 
     Law Enforcement Act of 1994''.

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