Gun
Laws
Violent Crime Control and
Law Enforcement Act of 1994
(18 USC 921(a)(30))
Federal
Assault Weapons Ban
The 1994
ban expired at 12:01am on Monday, September 13,
2004
On September 13, 1994, domestic gun manufacturers
were required to stop production of semi-automatic
assault weapons and ammunition clips holding more
than 10 rounds except for military or police use.
Imports of assault weapons not already banned
by administrative action under Presidents Reagan
and George H.W. Bush were also halted. Assault
weapons and ammunition clips holding more than
10 rounds produced prior to September 13, 1994,
were "grandfathered" in under the law
and can still be possessed and sold.
The
bill bans, by name, the manufacture of 19 different
weapons:
- Norinco,
Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs
(all models);
- Action
Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil;
- Beretta
Ar70 (SC-70);
- Colt
AR-15;
- Fabrique
National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC;
- SWD
M-10; M-11; M-11/9, and M-12;
- Steyr
AUG;
- INTRATEC
TEC-9, TEC-DC9, AND TEC-22;
- Revolving
cylinder shotguns such as (or similar to)
the Street Sweeper and Striker
12.
The bill also bans "copies" or
"duplicates" of any of those weapons.
The failure to include a ban of these "copies"
or "duplicates" would have opened the
door for widespread evasion of the ban. Even so,
some unscrupulous gun manufacturers have tried
to evade the law by making minor changes to their
assault weapons in order to skirt the restrictions.
The 1994 law also prohibits manufacturers
from producing firearms with more than one of
the following assault weapon features:
Rifles
with detachable magazine and 2 of the
following:
- Folding/telescoping
stock
- Protruding
pistol grip
- Bayonet
mount
- Threaded
muzzle or flash suppressor
- Grenade
launcher
Pistols
with detachable magazine and 2 of the
following:
- Magazine
outside grip
- Threaded
muzzle
- Barrel
shroud
- Unloaded
weight of 50 ounces or more
- Semi-automatic
version of a fully automatic weapon
Shotguns
with 2 of the following:
- Folding/telescoping
stock
- Protruding
pistol grip
- Detachable
magazine capacity
- Fixed
magazine capacity greater than 5 rounds
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