Matthew Murray has given us another reason to renew the ban on high-powered assault weapons.
Murray was the troubled young man who killed four people last Sunday and injured others at religious organizations in Arvada and Colorado Springs. Almost exactly a year before the rampage, he purchased an AK-47 assault rifle and a large shipment of ammunition. Less than two months later, he purchased another.
He was armed with a Bushmaster XM-15 assault rifle, the kind used by military and law-enforcement personnel, during his killing spree in Colorado Springs. He also had handguns. The AK-47 assault rifle was found in the trunk of his car.
Such extraordinary firepower is not meant for hunting animals or target shooting. We see only one other purpose. And so did Murray.
The gun control debate is tricky, and emotional. But Congress should move quickly to re-enact a federal assault weapons prohibition.
Such a ban was approved in 1994 under the Clinton administration with the support of former Presidents Reagan, Carter and Ford. Yet, President George W. Bush, who declared his support for the ban in 2000, caved to the gun lobby and allowed it to expire in September 2004.
Congress needs to bring it back.
The law approved by Congress in 1994 banned 19 specific assault weapons, both rifles and handguns. The law also made it illegal to manufacture or import military-style semiautomatic rifles, shotguns or pistols.
During the ban, the number of assault weapons linked to crimes dropped. The proportion of banned assault weapons traced to crime dropped by two-thirds from 1995 to 2004.
The law didn’t ban all semi-automatic guns, only those with multiple assault weapon features.
Opponents argued that it placed an unfair burden on manufacturers. They also claimed that assault weapons were not a danger to the public — you know the argument: guns don’t kill people, people kill people. True, but they need the guns to do it.
And assault weapons are too easily available to people like Murray.
The families of Murray’s victims know that all too well. So do the families and friends of the Columbine High School victims. One of the weapons used by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold was a variation of the then banned TEC-DC9 semiautomatic pistol.
During the ban, the U.S. Constitution still gave citizens the right to keep and bear arms. It didn’t keep Americans from owning guns for protection or sport.
Frankly, we can’t figure out the benefits of having assault weapons easily available. Law enforcement officers universally agree that people wanting self protection don’t carry assault weapons. But criminals do.
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, it said that Maryland had passed a ban on assault weapons earlier in the year. The legislation died in committee on a tied vote.
