For Immediate Release
Maryland Chiefs and Sheriffs Join Their Colleagues from Across the Country
July 14th, 2004
Over 1,100 Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Across Country Demand Renewal and Strengthening of Federal Assault Weapons Ban
A groundswell of more than 1,100 local Police Chiefs and Sheriffs, from 35 states are calling on Congress and President Bush to renew and strengthen the federal Assault Weapons Ban, before it expires on September 14th. Law enforcement executives in Maryland have signed on, as well, to a resolution sent them by CeaseFire Maryland, the statewide organization working for gun violence prevention. This is part of an ongoing effort by the national coalition of independent state-based organizations devoted to reducing gun violence, States United to Prevent Gun Violence, and coalition partners towards passage of a strong and effective federal Assault Weapons Ban.
The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban prohibited the manufacture, transfer, and possession of 19 specific semi-automatic assault weapons, such as AK-47s, AR15s, and UZIs. However, the gun industry immediately began to evade the law by making minor cosmetic changes to assault weapons, renaming them, and marketing them as “post-ban” models. Copycat assault weapons are functionally identical to those banned by the 1994 law, which is why Police Chiefs and Sheriffs have called for renewal and strengthening of the Assault Weapons Ban, to close loopholes in current law allowing such craven industry practices.
Military-style semiautomatic assault weapons pose a grave risk to law enforcement officers. One in five law enforcement officers slain in the line of duty between January 1st, 1998, and December 31st, 2001, was killed with assault weapons according to a study of FBI data by the Violence Policy Center.
Last month three police officers were killed in Birmingham, Alabama, while trying to serve an arrest warrant, by a gunman wielding an SKS, a copycat AK-47 assault weapon not covered by the current ban. Banning such copycats should be part of an effective renewal of the federal assault weapons ban.
Police officers are also seriously wounded by assault weapons. A Chief from Brighton, Michigan wrote when returning his form: “Less than two weeks ago, an officer from this agency, a six year veteran, and another officer, a fifteen year veteran, from a neighboring department were both shot several times with an AK-47 rifle while attempting an arrest. Both officers are still in the hospital for treatment of their injuries. Not only do assault rifles kill, they seriously wound as well.”
“Gaining the support of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs for renewing and strengthening the Assault Weapons Ban has not been difficult,” said Leah Barrett, CeaseFire Maryland’s Executive Director. “The men and women who protect us are aware of the devastating firepower of these guns, the damage they cause in our communities and the attraction of these rapid killing machines to criminal gangs, drug dealers and individuals intent on mass murder. That’s why they want all assault weapons off our streets.”
Barrett continued: “Like so many Police Chiefs and Sheriffs, Americans understand that assault weapons have no place in our civil society. Public opinion surveys show that Americans, including a majority of gun owners, overwhelmingly support a federal ban on military-style, semiautomatic assault weapons.” Blow specifically pointed to state and national voter surveys released jointly today by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Consumer Federation of America, available at www.csgv.org and www.consumerfed.org.
Gerry Anderson, whose brother, Michigan police officer Adam Hills, was killed with an AK-47, said: “President Bush holds the key to banning assault weapons. He said that ‘it makes no sense for assault weapons to be around our society,’ yet he has sat on his hands while the Assault Weapons Ban nears its end. The President calls himself a compassionate conservative. Well, I can tell the President that there is nothing compassionate about police officers having to look down the barrel of an AK-47.”
RESPONDENTS
BY STATE:
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| Alabama 1 |
Kansas 22 |
New York 64 |
| Arizona 15 |
Maine 30 |
North Carolina 33 |
| Arkansas 17 |
Maryland 59 |
North Dakota 10 |
| California 26 |
Massachusetts 37 |
Ohio 78 |
| Colorado 10 |
Michigan 99 |
Pennsylvania 17 |
| Connecticut 21 |
Minnesota 42 |
South Dakota 8 |
| Delaware Responses Pending |
Missouri Responses Pending |
Texas 22 |
| Florida Responses Pending |
Nebraska 24 |
Utah 4 |
| Georgia 67 |
New Hampshire 28 |
Vermont 6 |
| Illinois 109 |
New Jersey 81 |
Washington 14 |
| Indiana 45 |
New Mexico 5 |
Wisconsin 35 |
| Iowa 62 |
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