A ten–year federal ban on assault weapons expired on Monday,but local gun store owners do not expect much of a saleschange.
This expiration means that firearms such as TEC-9s can belegally bought, but the United States Senate’s decision to let itexpire has been met with mixed reactions.
“I think the ban should have been renewed,” said Fredrick Moore,an advertising senior. “It was the first step to controllingviolence and this expiration was a step backward.”
According to a CNN.com article, then-President Bill Clintonsigned the ban in 1994 and outlawed 19 types of military-styleassault weapons.
A clause in the ban said it would expire in 10 years if Congressdid not specifically reauthorize it.
The CNN article said some of the 19 foreign-made weapons, suchas the AK-47 and the Uzi, still are banned under a 1989 lawprohibiting imports of specific automatic weapons.
There are conflicting opinions as to whether the ban helpedreduce crime, according to the article. Loopholes allowedmanufacturers to keep many weapons on the market by changing itsnames or slightly altering certain features.
These loopholes make it difficult to determine whether the banreally affected assault weapons sales at all, according to thearticle.
Experts estimate the expiration could result in sharply lowerprices for some weapons, but local salesmen disagree.
“You could always buy any banned gun from a dealer as long as itwas slightly altered in either name or appearance,” said JoeHowell, former police officer and owner of Superior Pawn and Gun inPort Allen, La., who said he thought the ban was ineffective andstrictly a political move.
It was even easier to buy a gun from an individual rather than adealer, Howell said. It is legal for a private citizen to sell agun to another without the requiring background checks orpaperwork.
Howell predicts the decrease in the prices of assault weaponsbecause they now will be easier to obtain.
Bowie Outfitters manager David Reynerson said he did not expecta big increase in sales because he did not think there was a bigdifference between assault weapons and ordinary hunting rifles.
“We might initially see a slight increase,” Reynerson said.
The biggest difference made by the assault weapons banexpiration is the sudden availability of high-capacity magazines,said Reynerson.