Reply #17: Sound suppressors and military AK-47's weren't banned by the AWB

[benEzra]

they were and are restricted by the National Firearms Act of 1934 (which has been on the books for seventy years now).

The AWB banned the manufacture, but not the sale, of

(1) all guns holding over 10 rounds, with a few inconsequential exceptions (e.g., my wife's 15-round 9mm handgun was covered by the ban);

(2) all CIVILIAN (not military) firearms having two or more of a list of superficial features, thereby requiring that rifles with the stock shaped a certain way be sold with fake flash suppressors instead of real ones, and that muzzle brakes be pinned on instead of screwed on.

(3) listed 19 names that civilian guns could no longer be marketed under.

The result was to more than double the number of nontraditional-looking firearms in circulation; more AR-15 pattern rifles were sold 1994-2004 than in the previous three decades combined. I personally bought my civilian AK-47 lookalike (a 2002 model, with the politically correct flat muzzle) in 2003. Note that this is NOT a real AK-47, but a civilian rifle (works just like a hunting rifle) that LOOKS like a military AK; real AK's are restricted by the National Firearms Act of 1934.

For that, the national party sacrificed the House, the Senate, and two Presidencies they otherwise would have won.