Text 2221, 115 rader
Skriven 2004-09-13 15:32:09 av Alan Hess
     Kommentar till en text av Ed Connell
Ärende: Re: right automatic to get ?
====================================
Whilst masticating on <Sep 13 04>, Ed Connell (1:379/1.6)
wrote to THURSTON ACKERMAN:

TA>> Now that non-criminal citizens can legally own an
TA>> automatic attack weapon;

EC> Holy Moly.  These weapons automatically attack?!  Whoa!

What do you think of this columinst's suggestion re large capacity magazines?
********

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-op.guns13sep13,0,909522.story?col
l=bal-pe-opinion
Disassembling the assault-gun ban


By Christopher S. Koper

September 13, 2004

THE MOST important part of the semiautomatic assault weapons ban that expires
today is probably the restriction on large ammunition magazines, not the ban on
military-style firearms. New research findings could provide the basis for a
compromise between pro- and anti-ban legislators.

The ban attempts to reduce crimes committed with semiautomatics having large
ammunition capacities - which enable shooters to fire many shots rapidly - and
other outward, military-style features such as flash hiders, threaded barrels
for silencers and bayonet mounts. Those features are useful in nighttime
military assaults, Mafia hits and hand-to-hand combat but unnecessary in
shooting sports or self-defense.

The law prohibits 19 named gun models plus other semiautomatics having two or
more military-style features. But removing the guns' military features, as some
manufacturers have done, is sufficient to make the weapons legal. So the law
doesn't really ban guns, it just limits accessories.

The most important restriction is the law's ban on large-capacity ammunition
magazines, defined as those holding more than 10 rounds. Why is this important?

A large magazine is the key component of an assault weapon because it allows
the shooter to fire up to 100 rounds without reloading. Removing the magazines
from these guns limits their firepower.

Second, the magazine ban potentially affects more gun crimes because many
nonbanned semiautomatics also accept large magazines. Despite their notoriety,
assault weapons were used in only about 2 percent of gun crimes before the ban,
while guns equipped with large magazines were used in up to 25 percent of gun
crimes.

So is the ban working? It's a work in progress.

Reducing crimes with these guns and magazines could take time because it's
still legal to own and sell those manufactured before the ban's effective date,
Sept. 13, 1994. That's a stock of at least 1.5 million assault weapons and
nearly 25 million guns equipped with large magazines. Gun industry sources
estimated that 25 million large magazines still were available for sale in the
United States as of 1995.

Perhaps surprisingly, the stock of large magazines has continued to grow
because it's still legal to import those made before the ban. Importers brought
in 4.7 million for commercial use from 1995 to 2000 and received authorization
to import an additional 42 million that may be on the way.

Trends in crimes with these guns and magazines have been mixed, according to
new analyses conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. National data and
data from several big cities, such as Baltimore, Miami and Milwaukee, Wis.,
show that the share of gun crimes involving assault weapons has fallen since
the ban, typically by a third or more.

But this decline was offset throughout at least the late 1990s by steady or
rising use of other guns equipped with large magazines. In Baltimore, for
example, the share of violent gun crimes involving assault weapons dropped from
2 percent before the ban to 1.2 percent after the ban, a reduction of 40
percent. But the share involving any gun with a large magazine held steady at
about 14 percent.

As a result, it's hard to credit the ban with any of the nation's recent drop
in gun violence. But the law's effects are still unfolding and may not be fully
felt for several years, particularly if imports of large magazines continue.

Would extending the ban reduce gun violence?

Offenders who can't get assault weapons and large magazines can certainly
commit crimes with other guns and smaller magazines. But some studies suggest
this substitution might reduce shooting deaths and injuries - the most serious
gun crimes - by reducing the number of shots fired in gun attacks.

Available evidence is too limited to make firm projections, but attackers using
semiautomatics to spray more than 10 shots may be responsible for up to 5
percent of shooting victims, based on our study of handgun attacks in Jersey
City, N.J. That's enough to suggest that fewer attacks with large magazines
could produce a small reduction in shootings even if some offenders have the
foresight to carry more than one small magazine and have the time and poise to
reload during an attack. Just don't expect dramatic changes.

The political stakes are high. The gun lobby is one of the most powerful in
Washington, and passing the ban may have cost Democrats control of Congress in
1994. But anti-ban legislators face risks in allowing the ban's expiration. Gun
deaths and injuries could rise. Also, making assault weapons and large
magazines more accessible to criminals and others who might use them in highly
publicized mass shootings could provoke a strong reaction.

Could renewal of just the magazine ban and restriction of imports offer a
workable compromise? Most of the public supports the magazine ban, and it puts
little burden on gun owners. It's something for Congress to consider.

Christopher S. Koper, a research associate with the Jerry Lee Center of
Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, recently completed a study of
the ban for the U.S. Department of Justice. The views expressed are his own.

Copyright + 2004, The Baltimore Sun

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