[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18089]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, before I get into this 
hurricane discussion, my eye caught an Associated Press newswire out 
early this morning. A Miami-Dade County police officer was shot several 
times after a driver she stopped fired nearly two dozen bullets at her 
with an AK-47 assault rifle.
  The assault rifle ban has been in effect for over a decade. According 
to the Department of Justice, it expired this past weekend and now AK-
47s are allowed to be purchased under U.S. law.
  My family has been in Florida 175 years. I grew up in the country. I 
grew up on a ranch. I have hunted all my life. I have a son who is an 
avid hunter. We enjoy the outdoors, but we do not hunt with AK-47s. AK-
47s and assault rifles are for killing, not for hunting.
  Why is it that law enforcement, at every level of government--
Federal, State and local--is against terminating this law that 
prohibited the sale of assault rifles? Why is law enforcement opposed 
to the termination of this law? For exactly this reason: A Miami-Dade 
County police officer was shot two dozen times by an AK-47. I rest my 
case, and I think it is a sad day that we could not reenact an 
extension of the law on the abolition of assault weapons, primarily for 
the sake of law enforcement.
  I am a defender of the constitutional right to bear arms. I am a 
defender of the right to have guns of all kinds except when getting to 
the common sense that it is not worth it in our society to be able to 
purchase AK-47s.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, as he leaves, I would like to 
commend Senator Nelson, my good friend and colleague, who has given an 
enormous amount of attention to two disastrous hurricanes that have 
already hit our State, both before and in the aftermath. He is now 
continuing that as we face yet another hurricane in our State.
  I extend my appreciation, admiration, and, as a Floridian, my thanks.

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