In the end, this article is nothing but a PR piece for the antigun march in May.

AK-47s Headed to U.S. Had Legal Permits

By CURT ANDERSON
.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) – A U.S.-bound shipment of thousands of AK-47 assault rifles and other combat-type weapons, seized by Italian authorities who suspected they were being smuggled, actually have legal permits to be imported, American officials said Wednesday.

About 7,500 AK-47s, AKM rifles and other weapons worth an estimated $6 million were seized April 20 aboard a Turkish-flagged ship in the port of Gioia Tauro. They were bound for New York from Romania.

At the time, Italian authorities said the guns were hidden aboard the ship.

But Andrew Lluberes, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the weapons actually were cleared by U.S. authorities. “The permits are valid,” he said.

A 1994 law prevents the U.S. gun industry from making, importing or selling military-style semiautomatic weapons.

But under ATF regulations, a properly licensed company can ship such weapons to a “custom bonded warehouse” in the United States. There, they are disassembled and their key firing components destroyed. The remaining parts can then be reconfigured into a weapon that will meet the letter of the 1994 law and can be sold legally in the United States.

Two U.S. law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the weapons seized in Italy were being shipped to a Century International Arms Inc. facility in Georgia, Vt. The company’s Internet site bills Century as “North America’s largest importer/exporter of surplus firearms and accessories.”

An official at the company, which is based on Boca Raton, Fla., refused to comment Wednesday.

Dean Boyd, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said American and Italian authorities continue to investigate the case. The weapons remain in Italy.

The 1994 weapons ban is set to expire Sept. 13 unless extended by Congress. Gun control groups have been lobbying to win an extension, which President Bush promised to support during his 2000 campaign.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is planning a Capitol Hill rally and march on Mother’s Day, May 9, to push for renewal of the assault weapons ban.

On the Net:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: http://www.atf.gov