I grew up shooting/hunting and bought my first AR just prior to the 94 ban...Think I paid around 1500 for a non-Colt ar back then, nothing special about it, but it was "preban" as it were.
I remember some of my law enforcement friends at the time were unable to buy new regular capacity mags as well, because their agencies didnt want to be responsible for the purchase. It depended on the agency.
I remember a ton of these cheap 9mm type semi auto carbines that were the rage then. Most of them were cheap, and didnt function well (the ones that I got to shoot).
One thing I do remember well, was the intense devisiveness on firearms...The folks who were not interested in stuff like AR's etc, as well as pistols, wouldnt really support trying to repeal the ban, in fact many I knew then supported it, and those that were interested in only firearms like AR's etc, were just trying to keep what they had. I hope firearm owners stand together better this time around instead of dividing into factions as the other side would like.