That’s right today (September 13, 2004) the 10 year ban on assault rifles was lifted.  Now what does this mean?  It means several rifles, shotguns, and pistols and configurations of those firearms are now legal to purchase.  Now this does not mean machine guns are legal or anything of that nature.  Under this law an assault rifle was defined by the following properties…

-  A semiautomatic rifle that can accept a detachable magazine and has more than one of the following features: pistol grip, folding or telescoping stock, flash suppressor, threaded barrel, grenade launcher, or bayonet lug.

-  A semiautomatic shotgun that has more than one of the following features: pistol grip, folding or telescoping stock, detachable magazine, fixed magazine capacity of more than 5 rounds.

-  A semiautomatic pistol that can accept a detachable magazine that has more than one of the following features: magazine attaches to the pistol outside the grip, threaded barrel, weight of 1.42 kg or more unloaded, barrel shroud, or a semiautomatic version of a fully automatic firearm.

So no this does not mean machine guns or fully automatic weapons are legal.  This simply means it is now legal to own semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, and pistols that have been modified.

Honestly this law was pretty much useless anyways and was nothing less then impossible to enforce (my acquisition of a modified SKS is proof of that).  Even though it banned the sales of new versions of these firearms, did still allow the purchase of all firearms there were in the country before the law came into effect so they were still easily obtainable (and as you can probably tell it didn’t increase the number of shootings).

Actually it was just a knee jerk reaction to several shootings (which actually involved machine guns, not assault rifles) in California.  And everybody figured if they law was passed all would be well again.  Of course it ended up doing absolutely nothing since most criminals don’t purchase guns legally (that’s also why they had machine guns).

I’m very happy to hear about this since it not only means my SKS is now actually legal (not that it matters where I live) but it means I can finally purchase good rifles and actually modify them to my specifications (I do a lot of target shooting and am very picky with how my rifles, shotguns, and pistols are set up).  Anybody who is an avid collector of firearms is probably jumping for joy now; I just hope they don’t try to pass another (most likely more restrictive) law.

You americans and your guns… 

Yeah, it gets confusing. Sometimes we don’t know whether to say “I’ll be back” or “Make my day”.

The good news is the ban was lifted in time for the election.

dana,

you forgot “hasta la vista, Baaabbyyy”  :mrgreen:

dana,

you forgot “hasta la vista, Baaabbyyy”  :mrgreen:

Damn. See how confusing it is?

Now who did I loan my flightsuit to?

Yay! Now I can finally mount that FLAK cannon on the roof!

I was thinking more of a portable plasma generator.

~nox

dana,

you forgot “hasta la vista, Baaabbyyy”  :mrgreen:

Don’t forget “Do you feel lucky punk!”

[quote author=“dbs”]Yeah, it gets confusing. Sometimes we don’t know whether to say “I’ll be back” or “Make my day”.

  Even more appropriate for Caulifornia’s new govinator… lol

[quote author=“dbs”]The good news is the ban was lifted in time for the election.

             
[quote author=“Drachen”] Yay!  Now I can finally mount that FLAK cannon on the roof!

    When I read that I get this mental image of your avatar character mounting one on a dark ages/gothic-styled house in the middle of a surburban community…  :ph34r: