For Immediate Release
FIVE YEARS AFTER COLUMBINE: WHERE IS PRESIDENT BUSH ON ASSAULT WEAPONS?April 20, 2004
On anniversary of massacre involving military-style assault weapons, advocates call on Bush to keep his word, save and strengthen weapons ban
-- Federal ban will expire September 13 unless President acts --
Baltimore, MD: CeaseFire Maryland today commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Columbine massacre by calling on President Bush and Congress to renew and strengthen the federal ban on military-style assault weapons, which would help ensure that similar massacres never happen again. The teen killers used military-style TEC-9s in the April 20, 1999 school shooting that left 13 dead and 23 wounded.
Unless President Bush acts, the federal assault weapons ban will expire on September 13, 2004. The following day, many military-style guns like Uzis and AK-47s, which have been banned in the United States for 10 years, will once again be legal in America.
“The best way to commemorate what happened in Littleton Colorado five years ago is to make sure it never happens again,” said Leah Barrett, Executive Director, CeaseFire Maryland. “Military-style assault weapons do not belong on our nation’s streets and in our neighborhood schools. If President Bush is serious about public safety, he will back up his promises by working for a strong and effective assault weapons ban.”
Repeated Promises of Support
George W. Bush and his administration have repeatedly promised to support a ban on assault weapons. In an August 12, 1999 article in the Houston Chronicle, then-candidate Bush said "It makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society.”
Most recently, on February 23, 2004, White House spokesperson Claire Buchan said “[w]ith regard to the assault weapons ban, [President Bush] supports the extension of the current ban.” To learn more about President Bush’s gun record and public statements, visit http://www.csgv.org/issues/elections/bush.cfm.
Gun violence prevention advocates are concerned that the President and the gun lobby are working to ensure an assault weapons ban never reaches his desk. Though a ban cleared the Senate on March 2, President Bush did nothing to help it progress. The measure died, along with a gun industry legal immunity bill – the gun lobby’s top legislative priority.
“President Bush had a chance to back up his promises with action – but he did nothing,” said Barrett. “The overwhelming majority of Americans want strong and decisive leadership from President Bush, not useless rhetoric.”
A Strong, Effective Assault Weapons Ban
The 1994 ban outlaws specific models of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons. But in a willful attempt to violate the spirit of the law, the gun industry continues to manufacture “post-ban” assault weapons – guns identical to those banned except for minor cosmetic changes. The Bushmaster XM15 used in the 2002 DC-area sniper attacks, for example, is a “post-ban” version of the AR15 assault rifle, which is banned under current law.
CeaseFire Maryland called for national legislation that would stop the gun industry from manufacturing “post-ban” assault weapons such as the Bushmaster XM15. An attempt to pass a Maryland state ban in the General Assembly session failed by a single vote to emerge from committee. State Senator John A. Giannetti, Jr., under pressure from Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., voted to kill the ban, even though 77% of Marylanders and 82% of Giannetti’s constituents support a strong and effective assault weapons ban.
Nationally, 63% of Americans – including a majority of gun owners – favor strengthening the assault weapons ban to prevent the gun industry from manufacturing commercial models of military-style assault weapons, according to a recent survey commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America.