Reply #22: You've always been able to buy "assault rifles"...

[Quadrajet]

After talking with several gun collectors I've come to the realization that assault rifles have always been on the market and would continue to be even if the ban stayed in effect. From what I understand, all the ban did was allow an assault rifle to still be produced, but have only 3 assault rifle characteristics...almost all of which are cosmetic.

Folding stocks (cosmetic)

Pistol grips (cosmetic)

High capacity magazines (mfgrs produced millions of these before the ban went into effect and were still for sale as the ban ended)

Silencers

Flash suppresors

Check out this Guardian article for more info. I included some quotes below.

The ban, enacted under Bill Clinton, outlawed Uzis, AK-47s, and other brands of guns produced after 1994; accessories that made rapid firing easier (such as higher capacity ammunition clips, pistol grips and folding stocks); and silencers. Guns that incorporated the banned features but that were manufactured before 1994 remained legal.

America's gun makers soon found ways to exploit this weakness, increasing their output before the ban went into effect, and producing weapons that were very slightly adjusted to comply with the regulations.

"They just banned the cosmetic features," says Sanford Abrams, the owner of Valley Gun, down the road from Mr Shiflett's shop in Baltimore. On the rack behind him are about 25 types of assault rifle, all perfectly legal. Most sell for between $1,000 and $1,500 (£560-£830). There is an Uzi in the back of the shop, also legal because of loopholes in the law; and, 10 years after the ban on high-capacity magazines went into effect, Mr Abrams still has an almost inexhaustible supply.