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SirFuego
02-04-2013, 02:35 PM
Don't know if this thread should be here or in the asylum board, but...

Who here was old enough to remember all the debate and discussions that went on back in 1994 when the assault weapons ban was proposed and subsequently passed? I'm kind of curious if the ban created the same level (relatively speaking -- mostly due to the Internet's ability to blow things out of proportion) of a shitstorm.

I was about 12 at the time, so to say that I "understood" what was going on was, well, an understatement. The only guns I was exposed to as a kid and my parents owned were basic hunting rifles/shotguns -- nothing that was at risk of being banned, so I didn't hear any banter from my parents about it, either.

I'm kind of curious about the similarities and differences between what's going on now and what went on 19 years ago.

Super Scout
02-04-2013, 02:49 PM
I remember my dad bought 4 guns when it happened. Thats about it I was 10 at the time.
There was a thread of the same topic on pirate the gist from the guys who remember was that it just sort of happened. Wasn't a whole lot of discussion on it. The internet has changed a lot of that. A lot of guys said they didn't even know it was on the floor.

The_War_Wagon
02-04-2013, 02:51 PM
I was 27 then, and yes, it set off a STORM of buying. It probably led to the popularity of the AR15, and all the advances that have been done to it for the civilian market as well.

I bought my first AR in 1991, and it was VERY rare - even in NC, where I grew up - to see somebody with them. Not that everybody was running around with an AK or a HK91 instead (I had both of those as well :)), but when you could NO LONGER get them, you looked for the next best, affordable, available thing... and thus the AR REALLY took off in popularity.

We saw gouging at gun shows, shortages of ammo (especially 7.62x39, since the Chinese stuff had been SO plentiful and SO cheap), higher prices on scarcier things (mags, ammo, and any stock that wasn't a Sarah Brady BUTTHOLE stock). High capacity 9mm pistols and subguns were the fad of the day, so those mags went up appreciably. Ask anybody who owned a Glock, about $100 Glock mags by the late '90's! :103:

It was bad then, but home defense was not the industry it is today, and algore hadn't mass-produced the interwebz yet. If prices were high, or items scarce in one area, you didn't necessarily know about it in another state. You didn't have e-mail ordering ability from places like Brownells or Midway, and so runs on guns and accoutrement, tended to be localized. Only at big gun shows, could you really find out what was going on in other parts of the country.

joshs1ofakindxj
02-04-2013, 02:58 PM
I work with a guy that has been collecting "assault weapons" since the 80s. I asked him the same and he said that basically the same shitstorm happened, but this is a shitstorm of exponentially larger magnitude. Like an F5 shitstorm.

Obviously, the Internet has brought the shooting community together, and combined with the popularity of the AR, AK, etc you get what we have today.

HoodRN
02-04-2013, 11:27 PM
I had one AR in '94, a Colt H-Bar (still have it). The reaction of the shooting public (and the general public) was not anywhere near what it is now. There was a run on high cap mags, the manufacturers found was around most of the cosmetic restrictions (thumbhole stocks), and the whole mess finally went away under W when it reached sunset. Fineswine is writing this one to cover the deficiencies. Obongo is imploring the low information voters to pressure their reps for "reasonable" gun controls, "for the children".

joshs1ofakindxj
02-05-2013, 11:49 AM
Looks like WNY is pissed.

http://onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com/2013/02/who-are-police-at-war-with.html

SirFuego
02-05-2013, 02:22 PM
Looks like WNY is pissed.
http://onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com/2013/02/who-are-police-at-war-with.html
Uh huh. I remember reading somewhere that Erie County (where Buffalo -- and the town of Clarence, which is where that video took place -- is) has the highest density of CCW permits of any other county in NY. The SAFE act has not been very well received in this area.

HoodRN
02-05-2013, 02:27 PM
They are more than pissed.

SirFuego
02-05-2013, 03:49 PM
Erie County Sheriff's Office (county where Buffalo is) opposes the bill:
http://www2.erie.gov/sheriff/index.php?q=message-sheriff-timothy-b-howard

There is also a podcast of the sheriff on a local news station. I haven't seen any "formal" confirmation of this, but there is an article floating around the interwebs today saying on Jan 24, the Erie County Sheriff's Office also unanimously passed a resolution of non-support for the act and they will work "tirelessly" to make sure the law gets repealed.

The_War_Wagon
02-05-2013, 11:26 PM
NY is a lot like PA - the farther west you go, the smarter the people get... :wink:

Mykal
02-06-2013, 12:19 AM
I was 14. I remember a little bit of it. Of course that was before high speed internet was common in every house hold so it was mostly just the major news outlets reporting and drumming things up.
My dad bought a Ruger p89 and some spare high cap. mags for it. Then bought a SKS and converted it to a folding stock, bipod, etc and bought a bunch of ammo and high cap mags. Im pretty sure he still has them both.
I remember a few teachers in school talking to us about it and my parents explaining why it was a bad thing overall.

tceraso
02-06-2013, 09:08 AM
I was 31 then. Remember hearing about it goin to happen on the radio so I called my buddy that was a gun dealer and had him order me an AK. Still have it. It's worth a lot more than I paid then. It was easier to get stuff at the beginning because info traveled slower. I believe if not for that ban there would probably be less "assault type" weapons in circulation today. People always want what they can't get. Typical of the result being the opposite of the intent.

Super Scout
02-06-2013, 09:59 AM
My dad would of went his entire life without owning a gun. The 94 ban he bought 4 handguns, one for him and one for each of his kids. Just recently he bought a rifle that he would of never thought of owning. So right there are 5 guns purchased due to the stupidity of liberals.

PatF10
02-06-2013, 10:54 AM
my dad was in the business at the time, he always tells the story of one of his dealers that went through multiple shipping containers of 7.62 in somthing like a weeks time. People would literally buy pickup loads at a time. This was down in WV at the time.

HeepH8erTy
02-06-2013, 11:24 AM
Looks like WNY is pissed.

http://onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com/2013/02/who-are-police-at-war-with.html

I would say they are pissed lol thats a good vid. One guy brought up a pretty good point when he asked about what is going to be done with those of us that don't follow that law. Are they going to build more prisons? Have separate courts to handle these people? It sounds to me like trying to enforce a gun ban up there will only be more fawkin tax dollars down the hole...

And I'll hafta say too, my dad bought an SKS just before the 94 ban. Him, both of my grand fathers, and several of my uncles did a group buy of like 10 of them or something. None of them had any desire to own one and I know for a fact that the ones that my pap's got, still are covered in cosmoline and have still never been out of their boxes. Hell, my dad's has pretty much been mine for the past 2 or 3 years. Before I got my hands on it, it just sat in his case since he bought it with a bunch o 7.62X39's piled up (I guess he did play with a little when he got it cause he slapped on a folding stock, bayonet and 30rd mags). They all just wanted em cause they were being banned. I'll agree with this:


So right there are 10 guns purchased due to the stupidity of liberals.

Me on the other hand....I've always wanted an AR for as long as I can remember...just didn't have the cash to dump into one till this point in time lol

joshs1ofakindxj
02-06-2013, 12:49 PM
I think I'm the first in my family history to own a semi auto anything really.

Will he didn't own one, but I know my grandfather used one for a little while...