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The laws, however, are largely ineffectual. Because these guns are really just ordinary rifles, it is hard for legislators to effectively regulate them without banning half the handguns in the country (those that are semiautomatic and/or have detachable magazines) and many hunting rifles as well.
But gun makers have been able to easily skirt these laws. They just sell the same semiautomatic rifle, with the same lethality, but without the military-style features.
Little wonder then that a 2004 study commissioned by the Department of Justice found that the federal ban didn’t lead to any decrease in gun crime or gun deaths. For starters, rifles, assault or otherwise, are rarely used in gun crime.
The clinton ban was effective at one thing. That era actually popularized the styling cues that they intended to "ban".
Many people I knew bought thier first semi auto rifle during that time as well.
As I ponder this I think of the venerable Garand and the M14/M1A. The Garand, despite it's magazine capacity limits, is MUCH more suited to "assault" purpose than any AR or AK type rifle. 8 Rounds of 30 06 is nothing to sneer at. The M14 had 20 308s. Hardly a Twinky thing either.
The US was flooded with Garands for a long time. Alas, those days are gone. But in that lengthy period of bliss not one mass shooting was done with one. If Charles Whitman had a Garand in that tower oh my! As a great many German, Japanese , Chinese and North Koreans can attest the Garand was not fun to face in battle in the hands of American soldiers.
500 yards was a starting range for a Garand. Just starting to stretch its legs a bit. OK, it's a bit on the heavy side, ammo weighs up, whatever. Meh, military designed rifles have long held a stigma with the uninformed public for their purported abilities. Truly I blame the shooting community more for the "assault" misnomer than I do the banners. They got it from us.
I fully remember the whole "assault" craze of the 80s. Gun shops flying huge banners extoling shooters to get their "assault" and "combat" rifles. The beginnings of the "tacticool" craze.
Remember the Garand well. My very first duty station in the Marine Corps after MOS school was Albany GA. I was part of the group in 1967 that did the USMC rebuild program. In less than a year I probably rebuilt several hundred of those weapons.
As I ponder this I think of the venerable Garand and the M14/M1A. The Garand, despite it's magazine capacity limits, is MUCH more suited to "assault" purpose than any AR or AK type rifle. 8 Rounds of 30 06 is nothing to sneer at. The M14 had 20 308s. Hardly a Twinky thing either.
The US was flooded with Garands for a long time. Alas, those days are gone. But in that lengthy period of bliss not one mass shooting was done with one. If Charles Whitman had a Garand in that tower oh my! As a great many German, Japanese , Chinese and North Koreans can attest the Garand was not fun to face in battle in the hands of American soldiers.
500 yards was a starting range for a Garand. Just starting to stretch its legs a bit. OK, it's a bit on the heavy side, ammo weighs up, whatever. Meh, military designed rifles have long held a stigma with the uninformed public for their purported abilities. Truly I blame the shooting community more for the "assault" misnomer than I do the banners. They got it from us.
I fully remember the whole "assault" craze of the 80s. Gun shops flying huge banners extoling shooters to get their "assault" and "combat" rifles. The beginnings of the "tacticool" craze.
Cost and they aren't tacticool is why those firearms aren't so popular.
As I ponder this I think of the venerable Garand and the M14/M1A. The Garand, despite it's magazine capacity limits, is MUCH more suited to "assault" purpose than any AR or AK type rifle. 8 Rounds of 30 06 is nothing to sneer at. The M14 had 20 308s. Hardly a Twinky thing either.
The US was flooded with Garands for a long time. Alas, those days are gone. But in that lengthy period of bliss not one mass shooting was done with one. If Charles Whitman had a Garand in that tower oh my! As a great many German, Japanese , Chinese and North Koreans can attest the Garand was not fun to face in battle in the hands of American soldiers.
500 yards was a starting range for a Garand. Just starting to stretch its legs a bit. OK, it's a bit on the heavy side, ammo weighs up, whatever. Meh, military designed rifles have long held a stigma with the uninformed public for their purported abilities. Truly I blame the shooting community more for the "assault" misnomer than I do the banners. They got it from us.
I fully remember the whole "assault" craze of the 80s. Gun shops flying huge banners extoling shooters to get their "assault" and "combat" rifles. The beginnings of the "tacticool" craze.
Cost and they aren't tacticool is why those firearms aren't so popular.
Now it's a cost thing for a Garand. I remember seeing them in Woolworths when I was a kid for under a 100 bucks. With it all to do again I would have spent every dime I ever made mucking stables on Garands. As to the "cool" factor..yea. I guess. But to me the Garand and M1A were THE rifles growing up. Even the old 03s are now scarce and pricey. Ahhh... elsewhen.
Any weapon is an assault weapon. Tools of violence are used for violence.
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With it all to do again I would have spent every dime I ever made mucking stables on Garands. As to the "cool" factor..yea. I guess. But to me the Garand and M1A were THE rifles growing up. Even the old 03s are now scarce and pricey. Ahhh... elsewhen. 
