I was 16 when the ban went into effect. I still have an exceptionally strong memory of attending a gun show with my Dad shortly before the ban went into effect.
There was a palpable air of panic. In retrospect, some of that panic was justified, and much of it was fed into by weekend BS enthusiasts sitting behind tables. The internet hadn't yet caught on as mainstream way for gun owners to network, so the rumors were flying fast and heavy. (Claims that the law would ban all semi-automatic guns were something I recall being repeated constantly.)
At the time I was just a high school kid, so I didn't really know what to make of the whole thing, other than having a general sense of how ridiculous the whole thing was.
Cut to a few years later. I'm in college and starting to get more involved with shooting competitively, as well as interacting with online gun forums.
Around this time, I purchased my first semi-auto rifles, an Armalite M15-A2 and a Mak 90.
It didn't take long before it became blazingly obvious that the AWB was nothing more than a feel-good political handout to a public that was as ignorant about guns as they were hostile to them. I developed a bit of a sense of righteous indignation about this, which some of you may have noticed has colored some of my more recent posts.
Then 9/11 hit, and there was a cultural shift. A lot of people came to the realization that the government couldn't protect them. Gun sales spiked, as did the stock prices for Smith and Wesson and Ruger.
The trend of states liberalizing concealed carry laws continued at a steady clip, as did the number of people getting permits.
I would, when funds allowed, buy one, or maybe two 15 round CZ-75 magazines at around $65-$75, often times not knowing the provenance of the magazine.
I was part of several conversations with people who had ban-era marked magazines who were completely incredulous when they were told that owning those magazines was a felony.
I saw one attempt at a gun show where a guy walked up to a dealer at a table and tried to sell him marked magazines. (The dealer's response was a solid "not interested, buddy, now buzz off."
Oleg Volk's most effective work was completed, and distributed to the far reaches of the internet.
There were unverified rumors that some National Guard armories were coming up short on 20 and 30 round M16 magazines.
Kydex became a thing.
There were online arguments and education efforts made by many, many people on various gun forums including AR15.com, The Firing Line, and eventually here.
People began to realize that they'd been lied to by their elected officials and the media.
Around this point I became aware that things were changing. We were slowly but surely winning.
People started to be cautiously optimistic about the AWB sunsetting.
And then the day came. There was a debate on the floor of the senate about renewing the ban. The rumors were that the NRA weren't going to pursue killing it in exchange for legal immunity for the gun industry against frivolous lawsuits.
I watched the C-SPAN broadcast* with my laptop near to hand, alt-tabbing between multiple windows.
What I want to say I saw was unprecedented. A huge grass-roots cry on the web translated into massive action lighting up the switchboards of the Senate and the NRA, and within a fairly short time frame the AWB renewal went from being a sure thing to a bit iffy to being totally dead.
I really, really, want to say I remember seeing Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer on the floor having a discussion, and watching their body language become increasingly more despondent, but that may very well be just my imagination.
The day after the ban fell, I celebrated by ordering a 16 inch Rock River AR with all of the evil features. Some time after that I ordered a Beta-C drum.
IPSC became a thing again. 3 Gun started to grow and develop a reputation as something other than an "outlaw" sport, and the sunset of the ban led to a number of innovative developments in both guns and magazines.
MagPul released their rubber pull things, and eventually a new product that no one trusted called the "P-Mag."
Numerous people who came of age during the ban still remember that time, and will often times stash away magazines against the future possibility of a further ban in the same way that depression-era folks would often save buttons and thread.
*Though I'd love to see the archived video from C-SPAN because my memories of that day seem just a bit too rosy.
