[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 105 (Wednesday, September 8, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8926-S8928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN TO EXPIRE

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, some of us have come to the Chamber 
today: Senator Schumer, who handled the assault weapons legislation 10 
years ago in the House of Representatives as a member of the Judiciary 
Committee; Senator Kennedy, who has been steadfast in support of this 
legislation for literally decades; and myself, as the Senate author of 
the bill. Ten years ago, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and 
the President of the United States stood up for the safety of the 
American people and against the National Rifle Association, and we 
passed one of the most important public safety measures this country 
has seen, the Federal ban on assault weapons.
  That legislation was designed to dry up the supply of assault weapons 
over time. That legislation was designed so that no legitimate gun 
owner would lose their gun, nor have any.
  The assault weapons ban, although not perfect, represented the best 
we could do to stem the growth and spread of these weapons throughout 
our cities and our States. That legislation is going to expire in 5 
days.
  A couple of months ago the Senate took a vote. We know we have 52 
votes for its reauthorization for another 10-year period. Senator 
Warner of Virginia joined me in sponsoring that legislation on the 
floor of the Senate. We also know that the legislation has been 
effective because gun traces to crimes committed with assault weapons 
have declined by two-thirds in these past 10 years.
  The American people have supported the ban and their support has 
never waived. Today almost three-fourths of the American public 
supports the ban, as do more than two-thirds of gun owners.
  Law enforcement supported the ban in 1994, and their support has 
never waived either. Every major law enforcement organization in the 
country supports renewing this ban, and countless individual chiefs 
of police, sheriffs, and line officers have put themselves on the line 
to express their support, too. In fact, many of these same officers are 
in town today to let Congress know how important the assault weapons 
ban is to the safety of those who face these guns in the line of duty 
day in and day out.

  This chart illustrates the percentage of banned assault weapons used 
in crimes, down by nearly two-thirds since passage of the 1994 act.
  The NRA will say: The bill is cosmetic. It hasn't done anything. It 
has been ineffective.
  Then why do they make this legislation and its demise their No. 1 
priority? This chart shows that they are wrong. In a moment, I will 
cite testimony from a former BATF analyst that says this legislation 
has, in fact, been effective.
  Presidents Clinton, Carter, Ford, and Reagan, and even Bush, have all 
expressed support for renewing the ban. President Bush stated his firm 
support in his 2000 campaign. He has never publicly wavered from that 
stance. But 5 days from today, none of this support will matter. The 
assault weapons ban will be history, one more victim of the powerful, 
selfish NRA and its brutal lobbying tactics.
  Because the President has steadfastly refused to put his money where 
his mouth is and help us renew the ban, it is going to expire without 
so much as even a vote in the House of Representatives. We have asked 
the President: Please use your leadership to convince the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives to bring this bill to the floor. Please 
use your leadership to twist some arms. If you support this, if you 
know the American people support it, if you believe it makes for a 
safer America, please help us.
  We have cried out in vain. There has been no response from the White 
House. Instead, the President quietly awaits September 13 and hopes 
that after he lets the ban expire, he can once again receive the 
endorsement of the NRA, because the NRA is not going to make their 
endorsement until the ban expires.
  This is truly a dark day in the Senate's history, as we let this ban, 
which

[[Page S8927]]

has worked so well and has saved lives, simply fade away.
  I mentioned earlier that what the ban does is prohibit the 
manufacture of large-capacity ammunition magazines, clips, drums, or 
strips of more than ten rounds. It prohibits the manufacture and sale 
of 19 specific types of military-style assault weapons as well as a 
number of other guns based on a simple test to determine whether the 
guns were hunting guns or weapons of war.
  Come next week, companies will once again begin to churn out large-
capacity ammunition devices, and powerful, easily concealed military 
weapons, all for civilian use. The NRA will try to hail this as a 
victory for hunters, but the fact is, no hunter has lost their weapon, 
and no hunter has been limited by the assault weapons ban. The law 
specifically, by name, exempts 670 hunting guns entirely.
  It is also important to note that the ban grandfathered in every gun 
made before 1994. No innocent gun owner lost their weapon. There was no 
confiscation component to the bill. But by banning the future 
manufacture of these guns, prohibiting the sale or transfer of any 
newly manufactured gun, the bill's intent was to gradually dry up the 
supply of these guns overtime.
  I mentioned I would give you some Department of Justice data. I 
mentioned the proportion of assault weapons used in crime has fallen 
more than 65 percent since the ban took effect. Let me give you an 
analysis that was conducted by Gerald Nunziato, who for 8 years served 
as the special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and 
Firearms, the BATF's, national tracing center. This is not some fly-by-
night study. This is by the one person who knows what these numbers 
mean better than anyone. He found two things. First, as indicated by 
this chart, he found that:

       Assault weapons banned by name in the Federal Assault 
     Weapons Act have declined significantly as a percentage of 
     guns ATF has traced to crime, and in absolute number of 
     traces, since the Act was passed. Had this decline not 
     occurred, thousands more of those banned assault weapons 
     would likely have been traced to crime over the last 10 
     years.

  He also said:

       The gun industry's efforts to evade the Federal Assault 
     Weapons Act through the sale of ``copycat'' guns has not 
     substantially undercut the positive effect of the statute in 
     reducing the incidence of assault weapons among gun crimes.

  In other words, even though craven gun manufacturers tried to evade 
the ban, those copycat guns did not replace banned guns in equal 
numbers, at least when traced to crimes.
  I want to spend a couple of minutes and explain to you about a 
shipment that was recently found by Italian customs. Some 8,000 AK-47 
assault rifles were on their way from the Romanian port of Constanta to 
New York City, according to press reports and BATF information, 
apparently bound for a gun store in Georgia by the name of Century 
International Arms.
  These guns had a value of more than $7 million--8,000 AK-47s.
  It is believed by some that these guns were being shipped to the 
United States in anticipation of the expiration of the assault weapons 
legislation. Though this shipment may very well have been illegal in 
any case under a 1989 Executive Order, think of one gun store buying 
8,000 AK-47s in anticipation of 5 days from today. Think of where guns 
like these are going to go. Some are going to go to legitimate gun 
owners. Others are going to go to gang bangers. They are going to be 
sold out of the backseats of automobiles and on street corners to 
criminals. They have become the weapon of choice for those who go up 
against the police. Mr. President, that is 8,000 AK-47s in one shipment 
coming into the United States.
  One advertisement now running in gun magazines is from a company 
called ArmaLite. They make postban rifles. As one can see from this 
advertisement, ArmaLite is now offering a coupon for a free flash 
suppressor for anyone who buys one of their guns. A flash suppressor is 
used to prevent the flash of the gun when it is fired. So if you are 
using it, no one can see where you are, particularly at night, by the 
flash of the weapon.
  Let me read what this says:

       And by the way . . . ArmaLite's rifles are made to be 
     easily retrofitted with your flash suppressor and your other 
     pre-ban features so you don't have to wait if you're choosing 
     an ArmaLite.

  They are giving a coupon for a free flash suppressor with every new 
weapon to keep in your pocket as a reminder to work with the NRA to get 
out the vote and to keep writing and calling your legislators. That is 
what we are up against: flash suppressors for votes in this country. It 
makes me sick to my stomach.
  The ad states:

       It is not legal to install this on a post-ban rifle until 
     the assault weapons ban sunsets.

  That will happen in 5 days.
  A recent study by the Consumer Federation of America discovered that 
manufacturers are also gearing up to manufacture large-capacity 
ammunition clips.
  This is the danger. Just yesterday in Geneva, OH, somebody stood in 
the main thoroughfare and fired more than 50 rounds from a big clip. No 
one could get to him to disarm him. Three people were wounded. He just 
stood there and fired the weapon indiscriminately.
  One manufacturer told a caller from the Consumer Federation of 
America that there is a pent-up demand for 50-round clips and larger. 
Who needs a 50-round clip? Hunting laws in every State restrict the 
number of bullets in a clip to under 10. Who needs a 50-round clip?
  It is clear that time has run out. It is clear the President of the 
United States will not help, and this is truly a sad day for this 
Nation.
  My hope is if the ban expires and these guns and high-capacity clips 
once again start to flood our streets, some common sense will return to 
Washington and we can then put the ban in place. But I want this Senate 
to know, Mr. President, that I do not intend to give up. Next year, I 
will put a better law on virtually any bill I can find to do so, and we 
will come back and back and back, and we will have armor because no 
doubt tragedy will ensue.
  The assault weapons legislation has worked. No legal owner has been 
denied a weapon. No weapon has been confiscated. Yet the supply of 
these weapons on the streets have declined. A dominant majority, 
upwards of 70 percent of the American people, support its 
reauthorization. We have bipartisan support in the Senate for its 
reauthorization. President Bush, please, if you care, if you are 
listening, do something. The House can pass this. We have had the 
debate in the Senate. It will only take a few minutes for the Senate to 
cast the same vote again, and then you can sign a piece of legislation 
that we know makes this Nation safer.
  Mr. President, how much time remains of my time?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Four minutes.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank the Chair. I withhold the remainder of my 
time and yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I again congratulate my friends and 
colleagues, Senator Feinstein and Senator Schumer, for the strong 
leadership they have shown on this issue and their continued 
perseverance and persistence in urging the House and Senate and the 
President to act. Unless the President and Congress act, the current 
Federal ban on assault weapons will expire in 5 days.
  Semiautomatic weapons are killing machines with utterly no redeeming 
value in any sane community, and lifting this ban will put these 
weapons of death back in the hands of criminals and will give 
terrorists a new tool to attack America.
  We know terrorists are now exploiting the weaknesses and loopholes in 
our gun laws. A terrorist training manual discovered by American 
soldiers in Afghanistan in 2001 advised al-Qaida members to buy assault 
weapons in the United States and use them against us.
  The failure to renew the ban this year will drastically undermine the 
safety of our streets, our neighborhoods, and our schools, and 
strengthen terrorists and other criminals. It would be a tragic and 
senseless blow to the security of our homeland.
  Terrorists already here in sleeper cells or coming in from abroad 
will be able to buy assault weapons without background checks at gun 
shows and wreak terror throughout the Nation.
  How can we possibly allow this essential protection against crime and 
terrorism to expire? How can we deliberately put the security of our 
communities in such new and needless jeopardy?

[[Page S8928]]

  The need for Presidential leadership has never been greater. We know 
we have the votes for renewing the assault weapons ban in the Senate 
because we passed such an amendment in March by a bipartisan vote of 52 
to 47. The Republican leadership in the Senate, however, refuses to 
bring the ban back for another vote, and the House Republican 
leadership refuses to act at all.
  In the 2000 campaign, President Bush specifically pledged to renew 
the ban, but now as the ban is about to expire, the silence from the 
White House is deafening. It is long past time for President Bush to 
live up to his commitment.
  President Bush has shown that when he wants something from this 
Republican Congress, he gets it. When he wanted tax breaks for the 
wealthy, he got it. When he wanted another round of tax breaks, he got 
them, too. We need that same commitment from President Bush when it 
comes to protecting our families and securing our communities from 
deadly assault weapons.
  President Bush, the time to act is now. Congress awaits your call.

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