Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 22, 1990 TAG: 9003222122
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The bill, sponsored by Rep. William Hughes, D-N.J., chairman of the crime subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, would ban possession and most exports of any American-made semiautomatic rifle deemed by the Department of the Treasury to have no "sporting purpose."
The measure, adopted by a 5-3 vote, also would outlaw any firearm that can accept a silencer or bayonet.
The bill would significantly expand a ban imposed by the the Bush administration last year on the import of 43 brands of semiautomatics. Gun control groups estimate 75 percent of the assault weapons in the United States are made by domestic companies.
Hughes expressed optimism the Judiciary Committee and the House would approve his legislation, despite fierce opposition from the National Rifle Association.
The Senate is expected to consider soon a less-sweeping ban on assault weapons as part of an omnibus anti-crime package. Bush has proposed even narrower restrictions on domestically made assault weapons, seeking only to limit the capacity of ammunition clips.
After drifter Patrick Purdy used a Chinese-made AK-47 rifle to kill or injure 34 children in a Stockton, Calif., schoolyard early last year, California and 27 cities and counties across the country rushed to enact various bans on the weapons.
There was also a flurry of action in Congress, with a Senate subcommittee quickly approving a ban proposed by Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz. on nine specific weapons.
Yet despite another AK-47 massacre at a Louisville, Ky., printing plant last September, in which nine people were killed and 13 wounded, action is just now reviving in Congress.
For one thing, congressional sources said, it took time for the Senate Judiciary Committee to develop an anti-crime package containing provisions that would offer political cover to lawmakers worried about voting to restrict gun possession.
Thus, the Senate package expands the federal death penalty, eases curbs on police searches and includes other provisions that might appease conservative voters upset by a gun ban.
In the House, Hughes was proceeding methodically, "looking at different approaches and making sure there was sufficient support there to move," an aide said.
Hughes said, "My district probably has more hunting lodges than any place around, but 85 percent of the people are clamoring for reasonable restrictions."
His measure would permit current owners of U.S.-made assault rifles to keep them. They could sell them only after a police background check and payment of a $50 fee.
by CNB