25 years ago today, the Clinton AWB was enacted. 15 years ago it expired.
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 10:56 pm
For all you folks under the age of 30, let me explain to you a little bit of history.
September 13, 1994 is a date which will live in gun rights infamy. That was the date that President Clinton got out his pen, scribbled his name, and made things a wreck for law-abiding gun owners with the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 law that was created at the behest of the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex.
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Police statistics prior to the passage of the ban didn't lie in how useless the AWB would become and that the weapons targeted by the ban were hardly every used by criminals.
But that didn't stop them and pass it they did.
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It was a dark time for gun owners across the country. What was suddenly legal to manufacturer and sell one day was made illegal the next. Guns likes these were suddenly high sought after and valuable because they could take flash hiders, pistol grips, detachable 10+ round mags, folding stocks, and of course bayonets.
Original ad from Centerfire Systems when the AWB was being passed in 1994.
But with the wicked mark of Bill Clinton, the end result were neutered guns and gimped magazines like this.
A Post Ban Legal Bushmaster with a fixed stock, 10rd magazine, no bayonet lug, and a non threaded barrel.
Yup, magazines over 10 rounds were banned and a number of guns were too either by name or through a features test. The Clinton Administration crowed about it's passage like it was the second coming of Jesus.
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They used it as a campaign tool for the 1996 Presidential Elections.
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But the industry wasn't stupid and figure out ways to nullify the ban as best they can. Here, we have a 60 Minutes news report originally aired in 1999, talking exactly about what the ban did and how companies went around it.
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Original Bushmaster ad showing a Post Ban Legal AR-15.
Period Rock River Arms Ad showing a Post Ban Configured Rifle and a LE/Gov.Mil only Sale Rifle.
Boy did the prices on certain things sky rocket though, GLOCK magazines were especially hit hard.
Magazine ad during the AWB.
Since pistols were affected too. Companies suddenly decided that if they were limited to ten rounds; they'd shrink their guns and make them far more concealable. And that utterly scared the gun grabbers like the Chicago Tribune in their July 18, 2000 article titled Guns Foes Warn of 'Pocket Rockets'.
The gun fits in the palm of your hand. It packs three times the power of its predecessors. It holds up to 10 bullets. It is what police call a "pocket rocket."
The issue snagged the attention of U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.), a champion of anti-gun legislation who on Monday said he would introduce a bill to ban the weapons. "These are new high-tech guns designed specifically for killing people," he said during a news conference at the Dirksen Federal Building. "They have no real sport purpose, and they don't do anything that enhances a gun collector's collection."
The weapons started gaining popularity in 1994, and today, virtually all major gun manufacturers produce them, said Tom Diaz, senior policy analyst at the center. Diaz also said the industry has promoted "pocket rockets"--a term coined by Austrian gun manufacturer Glock to market a small, high-powered pistol--in tandem with a wave of state laws that permit licensed people to carry concealed weapons.
Yup, guns like the GLOCK 26 were born because of the restrictions placed on the industry by the Clinton AWB. If someone was limited to 10rds of 9mm, why would they buy a G17 and have all that wasted space? Instead, a gun the size of a Walther PPK or S&W J-Frame but chambered in 9mm or .40 S&W came on the scene and is scared the bejeezus out of the gun grabbers. But the industry and more importantly, the law abiding public loved it.
Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation based in Bellevue, Wash., maintains that the guns fill an important niche.
"They serve a very important purpose for people's self-defense, especially for women who want to put it in their purse," said Gottlieb, who said about 22,000 of the organization's members or contributors come from Illinois. "There's no such thing as a good or bad gun. It depends on whose hand it's in."
Luckily for gun owners; a 10 year sunset provision was inserted into the bill and through an act of God. The 2000 and 2002 elections were mostly positive. George W. Bush beat Al Gore, was elected as President, and the Republican Party (then somewhat pro-gun) maintained a majority in Congress even though President Bush said he'd sign it if it reached his desk.
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When the sunset clause came up, it never was voted upon to extend or be made permanent. And far more importantly, it never reached President Bush's desk.
On September 13, 2004; ten years afters after it was enacted, it expired. It was like a veil was lifted off the bird cage and the warmth of the sun came pouring in.
ATF's website on 9/13/2004.
The market shuddered in excitement, things became normal once again. And oh my how did certain companies, pro gun organizations, and gun banners react. The industry reacted of course by being able to sell what was what was once verboten to the common plebeians. Magazines, flash hiders, and telescopic stocks were suddenly falling like manna from heaven as wallets broke sound barriers.
Bushmaster's website on 9/13/2004.
Olympic Arms' announcement on 9/13/2004.
Aramlite's website on 9/13/2004.
Websites like AR15.com went nuts with the expiration of the ban.
AR15.com when the AWB expired.
AR15.com on 9/13/2004.
Pro Gun Organizations like the NRA and GOA were celebrating.
NRA's website on 9/13/2004.
GOA's website on 9/13/2004. CLICK HERE for the full size legible image.
The Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex was less than thrilled.
Violence Policy Center's website on 9/13/2004. CLICK HERE for the full size legible image.
Brady Campaign's website on 9/13/2004. CLICK HERE for the full size legible image.
As we know, the AWB was worthless in preventing crime and in reality only affected the law abiding. Even the gun grabbers admitted that after the ban ended.
New York Times‘ Lois Beckett.
But in the 10 years since the previous ban lapsed, even gun control advocates acknowledge a larger truth: The law that barred the sale of assault weapons from 1994 to 2004 made little difference.
It turns out that big, scary military rifles don’t kill the vast majority of the 11,000 Americans murdered with guns each year. Little handguns do.
On a personal level, to this day, my tastes and purchasing habits in firearms have been shaped by the AWB. I see folks spend a ton of cash on fancy muzzle brakes when to me, a standard ten dollar A2 flash hider is where it is at. Bayonet lugs, folding/collapsing stocks, and mags over 10rds are important to me and that is what guides my tastes even in the era of slick full length free float handguards and space age muzzle brakes.
Though the fight is far from over and the assaults on our rights continue. Both sides have learned lessons and taken them to heart as a result of those dark ten years. The Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex learned that grandfathering and a features test would not pay off and are now going outright banning. The Gun Rights side learned to buy it cheap and stack it deep along with the fact that we cannot sit on our laurels and that the fight is never ending.
So learn from our past and prepare for the future.
