The Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act (S. 1034, 2003)

Introduced in May, S.1034 would reauthorize the national assault weapons ban and close a loophole in the law that has allowed millions of high-capacity ammunition clips to be imported into this country. The bill is sponsored by Senators Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Schumer, Lincoln Chafee, Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin, Frank Lautenberg, Jack Reed, and Edward Kennedy.

The original ban was enacted in 1994 as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and will expire on September 13, 2004 if Congress does not take action.  The ban applies to military style, semi-automatic guns with multiple assault weapons features such as high ammunition capacity and rapid-fire capability (e.g., the UZI and AK-47). 

S. 1034's author, Senator Feinstein, describes these guns as the weapons of choice for criminals -- not hunters or those trying to protect themselves -- because "they have light triggers, you can spray fire them, you can hold them with two hands, and you don't really need to aim."  Prior to the 1994 ban, Patrick Purdy used a semi-automatic version of the AK-47 assault rifle to kill five children and wound 29 others and a teacher at the Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California in 1989.  He shot 106 rounds in less than two minutes.                                                                                           

The goal of the 1994 legislation was to drive down the supply of assault weapons and make them more difficult to obtain. In the years following the ban's enactment, crimes using these weapons were reduced dramatically. According to the most recent statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms:

• In 1993, assault weapons accounted for 8.2 percent of all guns used in crimes;
• By the end of 1995, that proportion had fallen to 4.3 percent; and
• By November 1996, the last date for which statistics are available, the proportion had fallen to 3.2 percent.

The current bill to reauthorize the 1994 legislation would maintain the ban on specified assault weapons and would close a loophole in the 1994 law, which prohibits the domestic manufacture of high-capacity ammunition magazines, but allows foreign companies to continue sending them to this country by the millions.  S. 1034 would:

• Continue to prohibit the manufacture and importation of 19 types of common military style assault weapons (models existing prior to 1994 can still be legally owned or sold);
• Maintain the ban on an additional group of assault weapons that have been banned by characteristic (e.g., grenade launcher, folding/ telescopic stock) for 8 years;
• Continue to protect some 670 hunting and other recreational rifles for use by law-abiding citizens; and
• Preserve the right of police officers and other law enforcement officials to use and obtain newly manufactured semi-automatic assault weapons -- helping to prevent instances when law enforcement agents are outgunned by perpetrators.

President Bush has consistently indicated his support for the assault weapons ban, and in April 2003, his spokesman Scott McClellan reiterated White House support for reauthorizing the ban when he said: "The President supports the current law, and he supports reauthorization of the current law."  The President has also indicated his support for banning the importation of high capacity ammunition clips.

For more details about the assault weapons ban, see the Brady Campaign.

For a Firearms Glossary, see Americans for Gun Safety Foundation.