As regressive milestones go, few are as frightful in this new era of homeland security as the decision by Congress and the Bush administration to allow the expiration of the 10-year-old law protecting the public from assault rifles and other rapid-fire battlefield weapons. The law — a far from perfect but demonstrably effective restraint on high-tech gunslingers — expires on Monday with not a whimper from the White House. When George Bush was a candidate four... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — It is known on Capitol Hill in Washington as the "federal assault weapons law," but folks over at the National Rifle Association derisively refer to it as the "Clinton gun ban." For 10 long years, members of the NRA and gun dealers across the United States have been waiting for the legislation, which bans the manufacture of 19 specific assault rifles, to lapse. On Monday, they will get their wish. Barring the unlikely intervention of George W. Bush,... (GunPolicy.org)

Opponents of renewing the ban on semiautomatic assault weapons are right that it will not keep those guns out of circulation. In the 10 years since the ban was enacted, pre-ban firearms have been for sale, along with firearms cosmetically altered to get around the ban. But most Americans want to say yes to an imperfect ban — and no to assault weapons. No because semiautomatic weapons are disproportionately used in cop killings, which is why police chiefs across the... (GunPolicy.org)

When the assault weapons ban expires Monday, gun-rights advocates will congratulate themselves that they have succeeded in eliminating an ineffectual law. They will be half right. The federal law is far from perfect. It is shot full of holes that gun manufacturers can exploit, as they have since the law was passed in 1994. Gun makers have altered features in the weapons they build to circumvent the law. But the answer to that should be to pass a better law. When... (GunPolicy.org)

Bangladesh's sea ports, coastal regions and frontier areas close to Myanmar and India are serving as safe sanctuaries for powerful international and regional cartels involved in supply of illegal arms, explosives and ammunition through various channels, informed sources said. Well-established drug-running networks are also used to traffic arms. It is said that an estimated 600 to 700 units of fire arms enter Bangladesh through the border from India and Myanmar every... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — Americans in two of the largest media markets opened their morning newspapers yesterday to a full-page picture of Osama bin Laden hoisting an AK-47. "Terrorists of 9-11 Can Hardly Wait for 9-13," the advertisement says. Midnight on Monday Sept. 13 marks the end of a 10-year ban on the sale of military assault weapons in this country — an expiry date that is being ignored by U.S. President George W. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress. The... (GunPolicy.org)

With the federal assault weapons ban sunsetting on Monday at midnight, the gun-control movement has a lot to fear, but not what most people think. Despite claims that letting the 10-year-old ban on some semiautomatic weapons expire will result in a surge in gun crimes and police killings, the fact is that letting the law expire will probably just show the uselessness of gun-control regulations. A year from now it will be obvious to everyone that all the horror stories... (GunPolicy.org)