[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 15, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         REGARDING THE REINSTITUTION OF THE ASSAULT WEAPONS ACT

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 15, 2004

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the 1994 assault weapons ban 
has expired and our nation is again vulnerable to guns known to most in 
the law enforcement community as ``the weapons of choice for 
criminals.''
  My bill would reinstate the repealed criminal provisions relating to 
assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices, and make 
America safer.
  The House Republican leadership opposed reauthorizing the 1994 
Assault Weapons Act and President Bush, though he had said he supported 
it, did nothing to help keep the law alive.
  Indecisiveness. Flip-Flop. Isn't that what the other party calls 
``saying one thing and doing another'?
  Because the President steadfastly refused to put his leadership--or 
lack thereof--where his mouth is and help renew the ban, it has expired 
without so much as even a vote in the House of Representatives.
  From this Chamber, for the past 3 years, I have been highlighting the 
President's efforts on behalf of the rich and big corporations at the 
expense of working families and small businesses. Mr. Speaker, sadly, I 
once again must speak of the damage our President is inflicting on the 
average American.
  There is no reason why we should let assault weapons back on the 
streets. Do people need an assault weapon to protect their home? No! Do 
people need an assault weapon to hunt? No! Do people need an assault 
weapon to target shoot? No! Semiautomatic weapons are killing machines 
with absolutely no positive value in any sensible community and lifting 
this ban has put these weapons of death back in the hands of criminals.
  A Bureau of Justice Statistics survey published in November 2001 
reported that almost 7 percent of State inmates and more than 9 percent 
of Federal inmates carried military-style semiautomatic weapons in 
carrying out the crime for which they were convicted. In 1997, roughly 
43 percent of inmates who carried a military-style semiautomatic or 
fully automatic weapon fired it and more than 25 percent of them killed 
or injured their victim.
  Mr. Speaker, the expiration of the Assault Weapons Act favored gangs, 
terrorists, drug dealers, and other criminals, and put in danger my 
children and yours, and our heroes and protectors, the police officers.
  Our local police are not prepared for the reinstitution of assault 
weapons to our streets. The bulletproof vests that we give our police 
officers are no match for the guns that are going to be back out in our 
neighborhoods. And we are going to allow criminals to carry large-
capacity clips with over 50 rounds, when our police officers can only 
respond with 10 to 15 rounds?
  Every single law enforcement organization, including the Fraternal 
Order of Police and the National Sheriffs Association, supports our 
efforts to reinstitute the Assault Weapons Act. I would support my law 
enforcement officers, and the safety of our communities and of this 
Nation over any gun manufacturer any day.
  President Bush sent America's youth unprotected--in unarmored HUMVEES 
and without bulletproof vests--to war in Iraq, and now has been 
instrumental in bringing back to America's neighborhoods weapons of war 
to threaten police officers and law abiding citizens.
  Moreover, 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 Assault Weapons Act has respected the rights of gun owners. Only 
criminals and terrorists have been kept from their guns of choice.

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