[Peter Gun]

After the ban sunsets (yay!) are all those LEO full cap mags legal for anyone to own, or only new ones made after the ban ends?

[Destructo6]

I'd imagine that the LEO-Only markings will then be meaningless. They'd probably have to come up with a new marking scheme if a new ban were to take effect after the current one sunsets.

[Hkmp5sd]

In the (hopefully) unlikely event they come up with a new AW ban, I bet they simply set the full capacity magazine ban, along with all of the other bans, retroactive to 1994. Oh the other hand, I'd bet that all of the major manufacturers and importers are filling warehouses with full capacity magazines in the off chance there is an AW ban renewal with a new effective date.

[Ian]

If there's no replacement law passed, then the LEO mags will cease to have any legal significance (merely being marked "LEO only" isn't legally enforceable without a law). So they'll all be legal for anyone to own.

[Destructo6]

I bet they simply set the full capacity magazine ban, along with all of the other bans, retroactive to 1994.
I'm certainly not a lawyer, but I don't believe they could legally do that. It would be depriving one of their property without compensation and would be holding one reposible yesterday for a law passed today. Even here in CA, they grandfathered all the guns and magazines that were in the state prior to the ban.

Your second statement is probably (hopefully) completely true.

[Justin]

Destructo-
Hate to break it to ya, but that's exactly what they're doing. The proposals in the house and senate to expand the ban do away with the 10 year sunset clause as well as permanently setting in stone the magazine ban. Magazines made before the 1994 ban passed are still grandfathered in the same way they were with the original ban.

But the bit that's really interesting is a proposal to put the burden of proof on the magazine owner to prove that a magazine is a legal pre-ban. In other words, under the current ban if you get busted with a magazine that holds more than ten rounds, the feds have to prove in court that it is an illegal post-ban.
If the new proposal passes there is a clause that would reverse that. In other words, if you get busted with a magazine that holds more than ten rounds, it's up to you to prove in court that the magazine is a legal pre-ban. So even if all your 10+ round magazines are pre-bans, if you don't have documentation to prove it, it's an automatic felony charge. Couple that with Project Exile/Three Strikes and you're out laws, and this could set an extremely ugly precident. After all, if each magazine owned results in a felony charge, you're going to end up broke. If you can't prove that three of those magazines are indeed pre-ban, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

If you want to take a look at the law, go to http://thomas.loc.gov and do a search for HR 2038.

[Lochaber]

Correct me if I am wrong but how could they do away with the 10 year sunset? As far as I know that is not a function of the law but a function of not having more then a certain number of votes in the Senate. This would even be a new law and not a renewed one, given that they re-wrote it.

Loch

[UnknownSailor]

You don't think that epso facto (sp?) laws are still illegal do you?

Does the Lautenberg Amendment ring a bell?

[Sam Adams]

I think that you are referring to ex post facto (after the fact) laws. Yes, these are specifically banned in the Constitution and, yes, the courts have (illegally, IMHO) allowed some to get through (the Lautenberg one, and Klintoon's '93 retroactive tax hike).

This shameful and illegal situation is only compounded by such Constitutional wonders as the "collective rights" 2nd Amendment, the "Patriot" Act, etc.

All of which leaves one wondering when someone will hit the Constitutional "reset" button. I have no doubt that those who wrote the Constitution in the first place would already have hit the button (along with other worthy targets) many times, had they had the misfortune of living in our era.

[Kharn]

The LEO mags will make nice collector's items after the sunset. I intend to buy a few after 9/14/04 to have lying around as a reminder of how stupid the ban was (because none of my rifles will be in post-ban configuration after I get done with them).

Kharn