What ISN'T banned by an AWB.

[Yournamehere]

I was thinking about the old and possibly the new Assault Weapons Ban, and figured pretty much anything conceivable has been or would be wiped off the map as far as fun/interesting guns go. Then I got to thinking, what isn'tbanned? If we lost our ARs and our wondernines, would we decide to [or be able to] revert back to Over Under Double Barrels or Revolvers? Or would we be left with so little that we're better off with a baseball bat or something? More to the point, what firearms slip through these bans, anyone?

[Spartan198]

The term "assault weapon" has a blank definition. I can grab a plastic walker, whack somebody with it, and that makes it an "assault weapon" because it was used as a weapon in an assault. Therefor, some enterprising politician could push for walkers to be banned from the general public under the premise that they're "assault weapons".

[MoviePropMaster2008]

The newest incarnation of the AWB bans all semi auto matic long guns (rifles and shotguns) with detachable magazines, and in some cases ANY sort of internal box magazine. It was noteworthy that legislative analysts reviewed the first drafts of the ban's language (put forth by C. McCarthy D-NJ) and another one put forth by Congressman Rush from Illinois, and the M1 Carbine, the M1 Garand would be outlawed under the wording of the bill. Also there was another early draft of a bill that banned all handguns that fired over 5 rounds (thus making even revolvers bigger than the Model 36 or the Taurus 85 illegal). Of course if they ban the guns that are too big, they'll ban the guns that are too small as well.

Double barreled shotguns won't be banned (for now), but would you really want to live in a country where everything other than a 2 shot scatter gun is illegal?

[Yournamehere]

Well this is just for fun. It'd be crazy and silly if we did have nothing but scatterguns and wheelguns, no?

[Gunmaster45]

It would be like the old west again, and crime would no doubt increase. Perhaps to the point of old west rules.

Somehow the Browning A5 was on the AWB back when Clinton passed it in '94. This is a magazine tube 5 shot shotgun built for sporting purposes in the very early 1900s. How the hell is this conveyed as an assault weapon? You can't even saw it down because of the recoiling barrel operation.

Wouldn't it be nice if the letter I'm sending to Biden actually made a difference? Highly doubtful but wouldn't it be cool.

I wish someone like Steven Spielberg or Tom Selleck would just invite Biden and Obama over to shoot some guns, just to let them know how fun they are to shoot. It isn't all about murder and violence.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Gunmaster45

Somehow the Browning A5 was on the AWB back when Clinton passed it in '94. This is a magazine tube 5 shot shotgun built for sporting purposes in the very early 1900s. How the hell is this conveyed as an assault weapon? You can't even saw it down because of the recoiling barrel operation.

Are you sure about that? There were only 19 types of guns banned by name on the AWB, and they were as follows:

* Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (AK-47, all models)
* Action Arms Israeli Military Industries Uzi and Galil
* Beretta AR–70 (SC–70)
* Colt AR–15
* Fabrique Nationale FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC
* SWD M–10, M–11, M–11/9, and M–12 (aka MAC-10, MAC-11, etc.)
* Steyr AUG
* Intratec TEC–9, TEC–DC9 and TEC–22
* Any shotgun which contains its ammunition in a revolving cylinder, such as (but not limited to) the Street Sweeper and Striker 12

Furthermore, the ban specifically excluded any firearm that "is manually operated by bolt, pump, level, or slide action". I don't see how the Browning A5 would have been banned by the 1994 law.

[MT2008]

As stupid as the Democrats are, I really have to wonder if they're THAT stupid. I imagine it's a taboo to discuss amongst the party rank-and-file, but most of the Democratic leadership (Biden in particular) understand what a complete disaster the last AWB was for them politically. They'll never admit it publicly, but they know that the AWB cost them heavily in Congress - losses which took them 12 years to recover from. And right now, most of the American public has an extremely negative view of Congress, which means they're already on thin ice and setting themselves up for a further disaster if they try something so risky. Even in a Congress controlled by Democrats, it's going to be hard for Feinstein or McCarthy or whoever to convince their peers to take a chance on a law that hurt the party.

And the most ridiculous thing of all about the AWB was the fact that Feinstein, Brady & co. were consistently at loss for words to explain why the ban had had almost no discernible effect on violent crime. Around the time the AWB expired, I remember even the NY Times was running pieces where they interviewed police officers who stated that the ban was useless and stupid.

On the other hand, this is the most left-wing government we've ever had in power, and right now, they have a very good excuse for re-instituting an AWB: The cartel wars in Mexico. Personally, I intend to buy every gun I've ever wanted that might be affected by a new AWB should it get passed in the next few years. At the very least, regardless of what chances the ban has of being re-implemented, at least you can use this period as an excuse to your significant other to buy more guns and mags.