From: [j g rasty] at [pts.mot.com] (Joey Grasty) Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Subject: [ALERT]Florida "Assault Weapons" Ban Date: 2 Dec 1993 12:03:40 -0500 NOTE: THIS BILL BANS SO-CALLED "ASSAULT WEAPONS" OWNERSHIP AND POSSESSION -- NO, REPEAT NO, GRANDFATHER CLAUSE -- YOU WILL HAVE TO TURN IN YOUR "ASSAULT WEAPON" IF THIS BILL PASSES!!! THIS BILL IS IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION! This article appeared in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Wednesday, December 1, 1993. Typos are mine. Followups set to t.p.g. Regards, Joey Grasty ([j g rasty] at [pts.mot.com]) Staff Engineer International Paging Product Development Motorola Paging and Wireless Data Group ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't speak for the Circle-M | "There's the way it oughta be, and there's Ranch. | the way it is." -- Sgt. Barnes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------BEGIN ARTICLE------------------------------ 2 state legislators push for assault-weapons ban by Linda Kleindienst, Tallahassee Bureau Chief TALLAHASSEE -- Floridians should not sell or own a host of "assault weapons" that are the guns of choice for street gangs and drug traffickers, two South Florida legislators say. "Florida wants to take the lead in a lot of things, but, unfortunately, we're the leader in crime," said Sen. Howard Forman, D - Pembroke Pines, the Senate sponsor of the proposed ban. "These assault weapons should be taken off the streets." But opponents immediately warned that the measure may be unconstitutional, unenforcible and easily avoided. The bill, filed by Forman and Rep. Ron Klein, D - Boca Raton, will be heard by the Legislature when it convenes for its two-month session beginning on Feb. 8. "People are frightened by random violence. They feel threatened," Klein said. "Today, anyone with an ID that says he or she is 18 years or older, who is willing to sign a form that says he or she is not a felon or a drug addict, can just walk out of a store with a Uzi carbine and ammunition." Only handgun purchases are covered by the state's constitu- tionally mandated three-day waiting period. All gun purchases require a criminal background check. According to Klein, assault weapons represent 1 percent of the privately owned guns in the United States but are 12 percent of the guns used in criminal activity. But Marion Hammer, a national vice president of the National Rifle Association and state lobbyist for the group, called the assault-rifle ban "a hyped, emotional issue that brings a lot of free publicity to politicians." "Law enforcement won't go into peoples' homes looking for guns, and the Constitution wouldn't allow it anyway without probable cause." Hammer said the state already has an eight-year minimum man- dantory sentence for anyone convicted of using an assault weapon in a crime. The laundry list of weapons under attack by Forman and Klein includes such names as the Street Sweeper, the AK-47 and the Skorpion. Violators could face up to 15 years in the state prison. Importation of some weapons named in the proposal was outlawed by President George Bush in 1989. but domestic production of most models began almost immediately. There are no statistics on how many people in Florida have been killed by assault weapons, since that information is not reported by many police agencies. Out of 1,191 Floridians murdered last year, 554 were killed by handguns, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Another 235 were killed by other firearms -- mostly rifles and shotguns, not assault rifles. Among those weapons whose sale and possession would be banned is the TEC-9, manufactured by Intratec in Miami. The proposed state bill, however, does not stop manufacture of the weapon for export. No one at Intratec was available for comment on the proposal, a woman at the company's office said. An assault-weapon ban has already passed the US Senate and is pending before the US House of Representatives. That federal bill would ban the sale and manufacture of 19 specific semi-automatic weapons. Yet the federal proposal would not touch weapons already in the hands of private individuals. Assault weapon bans are already in affect in California, New Jersey and Connecticut. In Virginia, residents are restricted to one gun purchase a month. "Floridians will have the right to own weapons for sport and self-defense," Klein said. "Collectors will be able to display perma- nently disabled weapons." Yet at least one of the banned weapons, the Colt AR-15, is used in high-power rifle competitions. The AR-15 is a civilian semi-automatic version of the M-16, the standard rifle used by the US Army's infantry. Forman said the state would have to depend on gun owners to voluntarily turn in their guns for destruction if the bill passes. The measure was immediately heralded by law enforcement agencies and sharply criticized by gun dealers and the National Rifle Association. "We see these weapons as a real danger to society," said John Joyce, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. "These weapons are made to kill people, not for sporting events." Opponents say the laundry list of weapons in the Forman-Klein bill also makes it easier to get around the law -- by simply changing model numbers of the banned weapons. "If you pass such a law, only the ordinary people will abide by that law," said Clay Van Der Pool, owner of AA Lock and Gun in Fort Lauderdale. "I don't think [the Forman-Klein proposal] is constitutional. How will the police enforce this?" Guns that will be banned ------------------------ Under the proposal, no one in Florida could sell or possess these 37 weapons: Armalite AR-180 Australian Automatic Arms SAP Pistol Auto-Ordinance Thompson, models 1927 and M-1 Avtomat Kalashnikov, all models Barrett Light-Fifty, model 82A1 Beretta AR-70 Bushmaster auto rifle and auto pistol Cobray M-11 and M-12 Calico M-900 and M-950 series and 100-P series Chartered Industries of Singapore SR-88 Colt AR-15 and Sporter series Daewoo K-1, K-2, Max-1 and Max-2 Encom MK-IV, MP-9 and MP-45 Fabrique Nationale FN/FAL, FN/LAR and FN-FNC FAMAS MAS 223 Feather AT-9 and Mini-AT Federal XC-900 and SC-450 Franchi SPAS-12 and L-12 Galil AR and ARM Goncz High-Tech carbine and High-Tech long pistol Heckler & Koch HK-91, HK-93, and SP-89 Holmes MP-83 Intratec TEC-9, TEC-22 and Scorpion Iver Johnson Enforcer, model 3000 MAC-10, MAC-11, and MAC-11 carbine type Scarab Skorpion Sig 57 AMT and 500 series Spectre auto carbine and auto pistol Springfield Armory BM-59, SAR-48 and G3 Sterling MK-6, MK-7 and C-4 Steyr AUG semiautomatic firearms Street Sweeper and Striker 12 USAS-12 Uzi cabine, mini-carbine and pistols Valmet M-76 and M-78 Weaver Arms Nighthawk Wilkonson "Linda" pistol ------------------------------END ARTICLE--------------------------------