You are quoted as saying:
"If the ban is lifted, people will be able to purchase fully automatic weapons, and they will be able to use those automatic weapons,' he said. 'It could jeopardize the lives of the public or police officers or others.'"
The AWban does not affect machine guns. They are covered under the National Firearms Act of 1934 and hence, require a background check, $200 tranfer tax and a sign off by a state or local official. In 1986, it became illegal for mere peon citizens to own a machine gun manufactured after 1986 (which drove up the price of a transferable M16 from $800 to $10,000.
Both of these laws should be repealed as they infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.
More to the point... see if this describes you:
"The semi-automatic weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons — anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun — can only increase that chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons." — Josh Sugarman, 1988, Violence Policy Center.
I suggest you re-educate yourself.
The sunset of the AW ban will allow me to buy normal-capacity magazines at normal prices. I am tired of paying $75 and higher for 13-round Glock 21 mags when the ten-rounders and the LEO-Only mags cost about $18.
When September comes around, I will rejoice in buying four G21 mags and four G23 mags, all of them will be inscribed with "LEO Only" on them.
Kinda cool, eh? I will keep them as momentos for my children so I can tell them about the bad-old-days. Then I'll take them to the range to shoot my machine guns.
Rick