Think about why there would have been a sunset provision in the bill in the first place.  It's to provide for a period of time (or test drive - if you will) to see if the law actually does any good.  Can anyone point out any crime that this law actually prevented?  It think not.  If you are intent in causing great public harm, you are not going to be concerned whether or not your flash hider or bayonet lug is illegal.  That would be the least of your worries.  Let someone show the law actually did something before it is made permanent!

I could imagine an anti would tell you, that since there crimes with sAW's were commited during the period of the ban, that means the ban worked. It saved children!

Look at all the school shootings that didn't happen!
Look at all the terror gunmen that didn't come out and kill civs!


Could somebody suggest to me HOW else we could point out that the sAWB is ludicrous?

The sunset was added, unless I am mistaken, as a "compromise", because the bill didn't have enough momentum to make it through in the first place. I don't think those that pushed the original bill, sans sunset provision, were interested in a "test-drive" to see if it did anything.

Expect to see bogus statistics when 2004 rolls around, but that won't be the primary strategy to get it re-passed and made permenant. Remember that a law with a name like the "Assault Weapons Ban" is passed primarily on emotional appeal. It's the sensationalistic nature of the bill that gives it its success, and when even Charleton Heston says "AK-47s are inappropriate for private ownership, of course" how much is supposed to get done? It's in the same vein as the ".50 [/i]Sniper[i] Rifle Ban" that've been attempted at various levels.

If it was the "Prominent Pistol Grip, Folding Stock, and Full-Capacity Magazine Acquisition Prevention Act," odds are it would not have been as successful. Instead, it's the "Crime Bill," or the "Save our Hard-Working Police" Bill, or the "Mother Theresa Commemorative Memorial Welfare Reform Bill," or my personal favorite, the "Patriot Act."

Does anyone remember when this tradition of giving laws sappy or emotionally charged names began?

EDITED TO: Respond to the previous post - The way I see it, the best policy would be to destroy the "assault weapon" myth. I can't see a better or more effective way to get public support for letting the bill die and keeping it dead.