[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 89 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S7422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 20 LEGISLATIVE DAYS AND COUNTING DOWN

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, as of today there are 20 legislative days 
left before the assault weapons ban expires. And as we get closer and 
closer to September 13, there are reports that gun manufacturers across 
the country are gearing up to flood the market with previously banned 
assault weapons. These weapons, according to the law enforcement 
community, were the weapons of choice for criminals before the ban and 
they have no place on our streets. The assault weapons ban is 
straightforward, commonsense public safety legislation that needs to be 
extended.
  In addition to banning 19 specific weapons, the ban makes it illegal 
to ``manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic'' firearm that 
can accept a detachable magazine and has more than one of several 
specific military features, such as folding/telescoping stocks, 
protruding pistol grips, bayonet mounts, threaded muzzles or flash 
suppressors, barrel shrouds, or grenade launchers. These weapons are 
dangerous and they should not be on America's streets.
  In response to Congress' inaction, some State legislatures have begun 
taking action of their own. In Massachusetts, State legislators voted 
Wednesday to bar the sale of the same 19 specific weapons mentioned in 
the Federal ban. According to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, 
Massachusetts is now one of six States with its own ban. Seven other 
States are considering enacting their own bans.
  The National Rifle Association has said that the ban is ineffective 
and unnecessary. The association asserts that guns labeled as assault 
weapons are rarely used in violent crimes, and that many people use 
them for hunting and target shooting. But this assertion is not 
supported by the facts. According to statistics reported by the Brady 
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, from 1990 to 1994, assault weapons 
named in the ban constituted 4.82 percent of guns traced in criminal 
investigations. However, since the ban's enactment, these assault 
weapons have made up only 1.61 percent of the crime-related guns 
traced.
  Unfortunately, despite Senate passage of a bipartisan amendment that 
would have extended the ban, it appears that this important gun safety 
law will be allowed to expire. The House Republican leadership opposes 
reauthorizing the law and President Bush, though he has said he 
supports it, has done little to help keep the law alive.
  I am hopeful that the Congress will act in the 20 days it has 
remaining.

                          ____________________