This has been your Bicentennial Moment
Not exactly, Don. Congress did not find those features "menacing," they found them "defining." In 1994 the gun banners were having a difficult time with constructing the gun ban in such a way as to not offend "sportsmen" who often used semi-auto weapons which functioned essentially the same as an AR, FAL, AK, etc.
The Remington Model 7400 and the Ruger Mini 14 dont have a bayo lug or pistol grip. Check, double-check. No collapsable stock. Check. No grenade launcher. check.
Why they did the "any two of the following" rule is beyond me, unless some pro-gun lobbyist inserted that language to protect the AR and FAL types from the "ban."
The end result was that the Demo gun grabbers lost both houses of Congress and, save for a short stint caused by Jumpin' Jim Jeffords, have not regained it (not to mention losing the White House -- twice).
NPR's Scott Simon speaks with John Monson, owner of Bill's Gun Shop and Range in Robbinsdale, Minn., about the appeal of semi-automatic guns.
That's another favorite talking point of mine. When I began going to the Ben Avery Shooting Facility (50 shooting benches on the main range alone) some 15 years ago, mostly what I saw, day after day, were hunting and competition (bolt gun) rifles, and some handguns. Rare was the military-clone to be seen.
After the passaged of the AW Ban in 1994, that was turned on it's head. Yeah, the CCW bill in Arizona that year caused an increase in pistol play at the range, but all those hunting rifles were replaced, almost overnight, with ARs, FALs, AKs, SKSs, and a smattering of full auto from time to time.
Heck, despite the villification, we can thank Bill Clinton and Sarah Brady for popularizing the very weaponry which the Framers would like us to be practicing with. Couldn't have done it with out ya.
Rick
