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--------------------------------