[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 22 (Wednesday, March 2, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S1928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Feinstein as a 
cosponsor of her legislation to reauthorize the assault weapons ban. I 
voted for the original 1994 assault weapons ban and for the amendment 
to reauthorize the ban in the 108th Congress.
  When the 1994 assault weapons ban expired on September 13, 2004, 
criminals and terrorists gained potential easy access to 19 of the 
highest powered and most lethal firearms produced. In addition to 
banning 19 specific weapons, the assault weapons ban also prohibited 
the sale of semiautomatic weapons that incorporated a detachable 
magazine and two or more specific military features. These features 
included folding/telescoping stocks, protruding pistol grips, bayonet 
mounts, threaded muzzles or flash suppressors, barrel shrouds, or 
grenade launchers. Common sense tells us that there is no reason for 
civilians to have easy access to guns with these military style 
features.
  During the 108th Congress, I joined with the majority of my Senate 
colleagues in adopting an amendment to reauthorize the assault weapons 
ban for another 10 years. However, the bill to which it was attached 
was later derailed. Despite the overwhelming support of the law 
enforcement community, the ongoing threat of terrorism, bipartisan 
support in the Senate, and the pleas of Americans who have already lost 
loved ones to assault weapons tragedies, the ban was allowed to expire, 
as the President and the Republican Congressional leadership were 
unwilling to act.
  Despite the National Rifle Association's assertions that the ban is 
ineffective, unnecessary, and that guns labeled as assault weapons are 
rarely used in violent crimes, the need for the assault weapons ban is 
clear. Just last week, AK-47 assault rifles, like the ones included in 
the original assault weapons ban, were reportedly used in two separate 
shootings in Texas and California that left four people dead and four 
others seriously injured, three of whom were police officers. In Tyler, 
TX, a gunman armed with an AK-47, wearing a military flak jacket and a 
bulletproof vest, opened fire outside a courthouse, killing his ex-wife 
and wounding his son. In the ensuing shootout with police, the gunman 
was reportedly able to fire as many as 50 rounds at police and innocent 
bystanders before fleeing in his truck. He was finally shot in another 
gun battle with police a few miles away. The same day in Los Angeles, a 
man reportedly armed with an AK-47 walked into his workplace and shot 
two of his coworkers to death following a dispute. He later turned 
himself in at a Los Angeles police station.
  Unfortunately, assault weapons such as the ones reportedly used in 
these two shootings as well as many other similar assault weapons are 
once again being legally produced and sold as a result of the 
expiration of the assault weapons ban. I again urge my colleagues to 
act to help prevent tragedies like these by enacting a common sense ban 
on assault weapons.

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