[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 55 (Tuesday, April 27, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RENEW THE BAN ON ASSAULT WEAPONS

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                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 2004

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, in 139 days the assault weapons ban will 
expire. In 139 days our streets could be flooded with AK-47's. In 139 
days the work of 10 years and the progress towards safer neighborhoods 
could vanish. In 139 days we could see the semiautomatic weapons that 
are used in combat zones on our street corners.
  But we don't have to let this happen. H.R. 2038, the Assault Weapons 
Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003, is a common sense 
approach to protecting Americans from dangerous and impractical 
weapons. I continue to support responsible legislation that protects 
the rights of those who collect or hunt and use weapons for legitimate 
recreational purposes, but I think we can all agree that restricting 
the availability of Uzis will not impede lawful hunting. Assault 
weapons make up less than 1 percent of all guns but they are 18 times 
more likely than other guns to be cop-killers, and 16 times more likely 
to be traced to crime than other firearms.
  H.R. 2038 is supported by more than three-fourths of the American 
public and virtually every major national law enforcement organization. 
In fact President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have both 
stated their support for this legislation. I urge the leadership of the 
House to protect Americans from these senseless weapons of mass 
destruction and bring this legislation to the floor for a vote.

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