[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 108 (Monday, September 13, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H7036-H7037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN EXPIRES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my outrage at the decision 
of the President and the leadership of this House to allow the assault 
weapons ban to expire. This law has been a critical part of our 
Nation's successful effort to dramatically bring down the violent crime 
rate. Since the ban went into effect in 1994, annual firearm deaths 
have decreased by 25 percent.
  According to a study published by the Brady Center, the number of 
cases in which the ATF traced an assault weapon to a crime has dropped 
by 66 percent since the enactment of the ban. And the ATF has data 
showing, the longer the ban is in effect, the fewer assault weapons 
have been available for use by a criminal. The effect is to dry up the 
source.
  This ban has broad public support. Most importantly, key law 
enforcement officers and agencies support it. They know these weapons 
have no place in our communities. The ATF description of these weapons 
in their ``Assault Weapons Profile'' clearly shows us why. It says, 
``Assault weapons were designed for rapid-fire, close-quarter shooting 
at human beings. That is why they were put together the way they were. 
You will not find these guns in a duck blind or at the Olympics. They 
are mass-produced mayhem.''
  The Department of Treasury has reported these weapons are not 
suitable for sport and are more attractive to criminals. The ATF goes 
on to say that, ``Access to them shifts the balance of power to the 
lawless.'' In essence, these are not weapons to be used by sportsmen or 
kept at home. They are weapons designed to kill people, lots of them.
  Assault weapons have been at the center of many of the worst mass 
murders in the United States. In 1984, 21 people were killed and 19 
people injured by a man with an Uzi in a McDonald's in California.
  In January of 1989, another man used a semiautomatic version of an 
AK-47 to kill five children at an elementary school, and 29 other 
children and their teacher were wounded in the same incident. This man 
fired 106 rounds in 2 minutes.
  In 1993, Mir Aimal Kasi killed two CIA employees and wounded three 
others outside Langley using a Chinese-made semiautomatic AK-47 he 
bought in a gun store in Virginia.
  And in July of 1993, eight people were killed and six people were 
wounded in a San Francisco law office. The man responsible used two 
TEC-DC9 assault pistols with 50-round magazines.
  These weapons are a serious threat to the men and women who serve our

[[Page H7037]]

communities as law enforcement officers. Allowing access to these 
weapons means our law enforcement officers have to carry heavier 
firepower that they do not want to use.
  In 1994, every major national law enforcement organization worked 
hard to pass the assault weapons ban, and now, this President and our 
congressional leadership have abandoned these peace officers by letting 
the ban expire. This is particularly stunning given the world we live 
in after September 11, 2001. Yet they have now made it easier for 
terrorists to arm themselves in our country.
  Mr. Speaker, this is unacceptable. We do not need these weapons in 
our communities. They are an invitation to death and destruction and a 
threat to our freedom. This Congress needs to restore the ban 
immediately to protect our constituents and our children.
  I urge the Speaker to schedule a vote as soon as possible and ensure 
that assault weapons do not come flooding back into the United States.

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