On Monday, it will no longer be illegal to buy AK-47′s on the open firearms market in the United States. This is because the assault weapons ban expires after ten years in existence.
Before you call me a gun control pansy, please allow me to say that I firmly believe in the citizen’s right to keep and bear arms. With that out of the way, let me also state that the assault weapons ban didn’t do enough in the first place. Gun manufacturers changed the names or small specs to avoid selling the specific weapons named in the ban, and many weapon manufacturers utilized a loophole to grandfather many types of assault weapons around the ban as well. Obviously a better bill should have been written.
The fact that the bill got written at all was a good sign – these weapons are not meant for recreational use. They are meant specifically for killing people, for tactical ammunition advantage, and for warfare. A hunter worth his salt wouldn’t think of chasing down deer with a Tec-9.
The ban is expiring tomorrow because Congress did not move to renew it and Bush did not urge Congress to renew it either. Kerry could have made an election year statement by pushing for not only a renewal of the ban but a reworking of the bill to be more comprehensive and effective. He did not, of course, because being labeled a “gun control nut” is the last thing he needs. No one ever expected Bush to go after it.
So, even though the bill was somewhat inefficient, your elected leaders could have gone to some lengths to better protect you, the people. They did not. Bush missed an opportunity here, because one group that buys lots of AK-47′s and Uzi’s are terrorists.
Yes! Terrorists! Why couldn’t Bush, who works so hard to stop the terrorists on every front, remove the United States as an economic throughway for assault weapons? Why wouldn’t he take us out of the trade loop? Why wouldn’t he go on the offensive and impose trade sanctions against weapon manufacturers who continue to make assault weapons? Shouldn’t we engage in the same policy against gun manufacturers that make guns that terrorists use to kill people? I know they probably don’t buy the assault weapons right from the gun companies, but who cares? There’s no good reason for Ruger to make more mini-14′s with drum clips.
And don’t tell me you should have right to own an assault weapon. You have no reason to. You have about as much need for an AK-47 as you do for a bazooka. The second someone shows me an effective hunting technique using a bazooka against gamefowl, I’ll buy you an AK-47.
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