Congresswoman Corrine Brown Strongly Urges Reauthorization of Assaulth Weapon Ban

Congresswoman Corrine Brown Strongly Urges Reauthorization of Assault Weapon Ban

(Washington, DC) Congresswoman Corrine Brown strongly denounced the Republican leadership's decision to allow the 10 year federal ban on assault weapons to expire today. The 1994 ban, passed during The Clinton Administration in 1994, made 19 different types of military style firearms, such as Uzis and AK-47s, illegal. Congresswoman Brown made the following statement:

"I am simply appalled that the Republican leadership of this House outright refuses to reauthorize the assault weapons ban. And the President, who seems to get unanimous consent from Congress on every issue on the White House agenda, from tax cuts to declaring war on Iraq to The Patriot Act, has not demonstrated any leadership whatsoever. Certainly, the President, who was quoted in 1999 as saying that 'it makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society,' cannot continue to passively allow Tom Delay and the House leadership to dictate gun policy for the entire nation. When is the White House going to step forward and do something about unnecessary gun violence? The Republicans control the House, the Senate, The White House and the Supreme Court, and I do not believe that the administration lacks the necessary influence to persuade the House to reauthorize the ban.

The ban's renewal, in my opinion, which is supported by 78% of adults nationwide, The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the Fraternal Order of Police, and numerous other organizations, is absolutely essential, and I do not see any need to allow semiautomatic weapons, such as AK-47s, Tec-9s, and Uzis, back on our nation's streets. Indeed, statistics clearly demonstrate that since the Assault Weapons Ban was enacted, there has been a 66% decline in the number of banned assault weapons traced to crimes. This translates to 60,000 more crimes involving assault weapons in the last ten years that would have been committed. If the ban expires, we will very likely see a quick return to the violence on our nation's streets that we saw during the late 1980s and early 90s.

Truly, I consider this assault weapons ban to be a major public safety measure that serves to protect not only our nation's citizens, but also our police officers. Renewal of the ban is an extremely important tool in preventing these dangerous weapons from ending up in the hands of criminals.

To conclude, there is absolutely no reason why these weapons should be legal in the first place. Indeed, criminals are in favor of them because they are made specifically to be easily concealed, while simultaneously kill dozens of people. Now who, besides a criminal or a terrorist, needs to have this kind of fire power? To reiterate, I wholeheartedly urge the House and Senate leadership, as well as the President, to stand up to the NRA and other powerful gun lobbies and renew this ban immediately."