ISRA: Freedom Restored as ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban Fades Away

9/13/2004 1:02:00 PM

——————————————————————————–

To: Metro Desk, Legal Correspondent

Contact: Pete Flanagan of Illinois State Rifle Association, 630-292-4771

CHICAGO, Sept. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ — The following are excerpts of comments delivered today to the Central Illinois Gun Policy Roundtable by Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director, Richard A. Pearson.

Despite last minute pleadings by anti-gun extremists, the crown jewel of efforts to destroy the 2nd Amendment will soon crumble to dust. At midnight, the sunset provision of the 1994 “assault weapons” ban will kick in, thus bringing to close one of the most hypocritical chapters in gun control history.

Much hyped as the cure-all to a spiraling crime rate, the 1994 “assault weapons” ban was muscled through Congress by then- president Bill Clinton. Although the ban enjoyed the misplaced support of a crime-weary Congress, those close to the issue saw the ban for what it was – the cornerstone of a legislative agenda that would eventually ban civilian firearm ownership in the United States.

Although the proposed ban had momentum, it was not without opposition. Luckily, the contentious nature of the gun ban left it ripe for compromise. Pro-gun legislators were able to write a sunset provision into the final version that would require reauthorization in 2004. Gun rights supporters knew they had suffered a setback, but they knew also that they’d live to fight another day.

Against the backdrop of post-9/11 America, that day has come. The American people don’t buy the gun control movement’s notion that there is strength in weakness. They don’t believe that the Spirit of America dictates that citizens should hide in a closet and pray when danger comes knocking on the door. They do believe that a free and strong America must be comprised of a free and strong people.

Since the passage of the “assault weapons” ban in 1994, the people have confirmed their belief time and time again that criminals are “the problem,” not guns owned by law-abiding citizens. After Congress passed the ill-advised ban in 1994, the people booted dozens of betrayers of freedom from the halls of Congress. In 2000, the people rewarded Al Gore’s anti-gun extremism by bestowing him the title of “also ran.” And, since 1994, numerous states have passed laws recognizing the right of law-abiding citizens to carry defensive firearms.

Most will agree that passage of the 1994 “assault weapons” ban was largely symbolic. Likewise, the sunsetting of the ban is symbolic as well. But I believe that the greater symbolism lies in the fact that the people have chosen not to reauthorize legislation that would relinquish to the government those things that make us all uniquely American.

In the closing days of the “assault weapons” ban, the gun control movement has pulled out all the stops in an attempt to keep the ban alive. They’ve flooded the media with lies about how our streets will soon be bristling with machine guns and about how our homes, schools and shopping malls will be awash in blood. Frightening prognostications indeed, but contentions that are not based in fact.

In the coming days, the nation will be reintroduced to the undeniable truth that law abiding citizens freely exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms pose a threat only to those who seek to diminish liberty.

——

The ISRA is the state’s leading advocate of safe, lawful, and responsible firearms ownership. For over a century, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.