http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3707-2004Sep7.htmlEnthusiasts Eye Assault Rifles as Ban Nears End (gun makers taking orders for assault rifles)
Report: Makers Taking Orders
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 8, 2004; Page A03
Gun manufacturers are gearing up for the scheduled expiration next week of a 10-year-old federal ban on assault weapons and are taking orders for semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines that may soon become legal again, according to a report released yesterday.
The report by the Consumer Federation of America, which favors greater regulation of the gun industry, concludes that "assault weapons will be more lethal and less expensive" without the ban and argues that police "may be forced to adopt a more militaristic approach" as greater numbers of firearms flood the market.
The report, based on interviews with gun industry officials and on reviews of advertisements and other sales materials, comes in the waning days of a federal ban on semiautomatic assault rifles, which has been in place since 1994 but is set to expire Monday unless Congress intervenes.
The Senate approved a renewal of the ban earlier this year, but the provision was part of a broader bill that included other measures opposed by the White House. House GOP leaders have given little indication that they plan to back an extension of the ban, and President Bush -- who said during the 2000 campaign that he would support an extension -- has not pushed the issue.
White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said that Bush "supports the reauthorization of the current assault weapons ban." She noted that "the president's views are well known" among GOP leaders in Congress. <snip>