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What’s changed in the gun world since Clinton’s ban expired?

by Molly Kincaid

“I just like to come down here and punch holes in paper,” says Knoxvillian Terry Hardin. He and the rest of the men shooting at the John Sevier Hunter Education Center and Rifle Range have various reasons to do so, from hobby to hunting practice to self-defense to competition. The collective mood of the bunch is calm and competent, void of the fanatical machismo I’d prepared myself for.

When it’s my turn to shoot, the buzz that comes with firing a semi-automatic rifle for the first time is almost an afterthought. While the smokiness of spent powder and the smooth surface of the rifle’s body should arouse a tingling feeling of power or a savage prick of excitement, the concentration required to handle the hefty weapon overpowers any initial sensory stimulation.

Danny Guy, a safety instructor at the range, took care to familiarize me with the intricacies of the M1A rifle, which is the civilian equivalent of the M14, the military’s primary weapon for a few years prior to the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1966. Before each shuddering shot, he reminds me to “align my sights” then “look through the black halo” (a tiny black circular sight that aids in aim) and “undo the safety” then “squeeze through the soft spot and finally, the trigger.” All these steps commingle in my mind as I crouch close to the gun, tunnel my vision through the halo, eyes blurring. Before I know it, I’ve shot the beast of a weapon, and its stock is slamming back into my shoulder, knocking loose my senses from their transfixed numbness. Only then does an ambiguous excitement tempered with relief begin to set in.

The various guns I shoot at the gun range are not, by the government’s standards, classified as “assault weapons.” Still, Guy tells me that they have essentially the same amount of power, and they certainly feel capable of assault.

President Bill Clinton’s 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in September, placed a ban on 19 guns classified as “assault weapons.” Historically, restrictions on firearms are by no means limited to liberal politicians; both the Reagan and Bush (the elder) administrations oversaw the implementation of limits on importation of certain foreign weapons.

The lingering question about the 1994 ban is, “What, if anything, did it accomplish?” Gun enthusiasts say its effects were petty, aside from simply being a morale-boosting coup for the anti-gun lobby.

People on both sides of the debate are so biased that it’s nearly impossible to pick through the jumble of truths, rationalizations, opinions and flat-out fabrications.

One overwhelmingly unanimous opinion among gun enthusiasts is that Clinton’s ban really didn’t have a clear target. Most gun retailers despise the use of the term “assault weapon,” often ridiculing it as a misnomer fabricated by politicians ignorant on the subject of firearms. Tamara Keel, a long-time salesperson at Randy’s Guns and Knives, says, “The real inanity of the ban is that several legal shotguns were more powerful [than banned weapons] but had wooden stocks, so they didn’t look as scary.”

Admittedly, the once-banned AR15, all black metal and plastic, does look a lot more sinister than the M1A, which has a wooden stock and would look homey on the mantle of a hunter’s cabin. That said, there are differences that, though gun enthusiasts beg to differ, are more than just cosmetic.

For example, under the ban, guns could not be sold or manufactured with collapsible stocks, which allow the shooter to shorten the length of the gun. This could presumably make the firearm easier to conceal, which is unnecessary in hunting or hobby shooting.

Flash suppressers, attached to the tip of the barrel to diminish the visible flash, were also forbidden under the ban. “They would be useful at night, for the military, for example. It would keep the enemy from knowing where the fire came from,” says Guy.

Again, this feature doesn’t seem necessary for sporting use, but Guy explains that many sportsmen value the “historical look of [flash suppressers]. They look more like military arms.”

Another restriction under the ban was placed on bayonet attachments, prompting most gun enthusiasts to scoff, “When was the last time you heard of someone getting murdered by bayonet?” Fair enough, but I couldn’t get a straight answer as to what, exactly, would be the purpose of the bayonet attachment as far as hobby, sport, or even self-defense. (After all, if you are holding a semi-automatic weapon whose bullets could bust through several layers of drywall, why would you need a bayonet?)

The most significant difference in the gun market since the ban expired is the increased capacity space of the magazine (the cartridge which holds the bullets). Before the ban, no magazine could be sold or manufactured (for long guns or handguns) that held more than 10 rounds. Though most shooters at the range still use 10-round magazines, there is now a variety available. The highest I saw was a 90-round coil for an AR15 on sale at a recent RK Gun Show, which would make it possible to shoot 90 bullets rapidly without reloading.

The question of whether the banned weapons were rightfully termed “assault weapons” or whether they are any more dangerous than legal guns is a never-ending debate. Regardless, the looming problem with all of these regulations is that, ultimately, many people still owned what the government classified as “assault weapons” while the ban was in effect because of a grandfather clause.

“We haven’t seen much of a change in the weapons people use here [since the ban expired] because so many people had licenses to shoot these guns during the ban,” says Guy of the significant loophole in the legislation.

Area gun retailers confirm Guy’s assertion that the gun world hasn’t seen a significant change since the ban was lifted. Larry Greenlee, of Craig’s Firearms, says that immediately after the ban expired, “sales picked up a little, but it calmed back down again.” He chalks the small boost up to a forbidden fruit phenomenon; people automatically wanted what they couldn’t have before.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which provides background checks for all guns purchased in Tennessee, gives statistics that would tend to further the notion that the ban’s expiration was a mere blip on the radar of the gun world. Records from October 2004 show that TBI processed 20,484 total firearms—only a handful more guns than the 19,499 they processed in October of 2003, when the ban was still in effect. Not exactly a sales boom.

So, while folks on either side of the gun control debate have staunch opinions on the ban, its practical applications seem to have been pretty meager. Of course, other avenues of gun control are either possible or already in effect. Many states have their own restrictive gun laws. Massachusetts has a mandatory one-year jail sentence for anyone illegally possessing a firearm; a measure that takes on the gun lobby’s argument that criminals don’t abide by gun laws.

The Brady Law of 1994 provides for more in-depth background checks as well as mandatory five-day waiting periods, but Tennessee is among 27 states exempt from these provisions. Presently, the background check usually only takes a few moments, allowing customers to make a purchase almost instantly. Jennifer Johnson of the TBI says, “The TN Instant Check system simply tells the retailer whether the person has a felony in their criminal history.”

Says Greenlee of the background checks, “That part is out of our hands. All we do is check ID and make sure you are who you say you are. After that it’s in the government’s hands.”

Education could be another missing link on the road to gun safety. In Tennessee, one needs no permit or special education to possess a rifle, shotgun or handgun. Acquiring a permit to carry a handgun requires safety classes, but plenty of murders and accidental deaths occur in the home, where no permit is needed.

Even the gun enthusiasts at the rifle range would likely support stricter requirements as far as safety education, judging from their eminently disciplined approach to hobby shooting. During a ceasefire, Hardin, who’s been shooting since his 8th birthday when he received his first .22 rifle, quips, “Everybody down here is for gun control...and gun control is hitting what you’re aiming at.”

While the hunters and competition shooters at the rifle range seem to be model gun owners—law-abiding and objective in their consideration toward the anti-gun lobby—a few folks at the RK Gun Show were less levelheaded. Gun shows give retailers, collectors and gun buyers a forum to talk shop, display their prized possessions, and make transactions. The show, held at the Knoxville Expo Center a few weeks ago, gave me a peek at another side of the gun world. While a few people I spoke with told me brusquely to go away after learning that I was a reporter, the ones who would chat with me kept their guard up.

To say that I stood out at the gun show would be an understatement; I was one of only a few females, and the only one who didn’t have a thumb hooked in a boyfriend’s back jeans pocket. The woman at the ticket booth asked kindly if I wasn’t mistaking the gun show for the craft show around the corner.

If firearms attract a brand of fanaticism, gun shows are surely where it lurks. Camo-clad attendees perused with intensity the endless rows of tables lined with every variety of handgun, long gun, knife, magazine, and accessory imaginable. The awing capability for destruction in the massive warehouse would bewilder most, but it seemed to be the norm for the members of this intimidating microculture.

One salesman, David Evans of Cleveland, Tenn., regards the gun ban with disgust. When asked what alternate measures could be taken to reduce gun crime, he says, “Get rid of idiots like Kerry and Kennedy—they are a bunch of fools. Anything that’s semi-automatic they want to call an assault weapon. That’s a bunch of horseshit.”

One can’t blame them for being on the defensive; gun shows have been under attack for years for being a loophole in gun legislation. While purchasing a firearm at a licensed gun retailer requires a background check through the TBI, gun shows are notorious havens for unauthorized gun transactions (i.e. a good place for those with criminal records to get guns).

One booth at the gun show features instructional CDs with titles such as “Silencer Cookbook” and “Full Auto Conversion.” The young man at the counter says of the latter, which describes how to convert a semiautomatic weapon into an automatic, “It’s kind of illegal, but it’s not illegal to know how to do it. It’s a good CD. I sell a lot of those.”

For the record, it is legal to purchase machine guns (or full automatics) since the ban expired, but it requires a six- to nine-month background check by the FBI and a permit issued by the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms). Danny Guy contemplates the subject of machine guns for a moment before saying, “It’s just what floats your boat—what thrills you. Because there’s absolutely no purpose for them...no reason any citizen would need one.”

December 2, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 49 © 2004 Metro Pulse