I've already needled my two Senators, Boxer and Feinstein so I thought I'd get a letter off to the local Newspaper, the Orange County Register.

Feel free to comment on mistakes or additions or subtractions etc.

The so-called Assault Weapons Ban will sunset this Monday after reaching its 10 year limit.  What will it mean in real terms, not hyperbolic rhetorical terms.

1.  In the seven states that already have their own Assault Weapons Bans, Hawaii, California, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey the only likely change is that owners of these weapons which have been grandfathered and/or registered will be able to add a feature onto their weapon such as a folding stock, bayonet lug or flash hider.  The sale of normal capacity magazines will still be against the law both for the so-called Assault Weapons and semi-automatic pistols.

2.  Politically correct versions of weapons banned by the 94 Assault Weapons Ban have been sold for the last ten years.  They complied with the limit on evil features and thus got around the intentions of a law that contended that evil features equaled evil guns that simply were crying out to be used for mayhem and madness.  In simple and practical terms the sunset of the 94 AWB means these weapons will  not be limited in the number of evil features that included pistol grips, collapsible stocks, flash hiders, and bayonet lugs.

3.  Normal capacity magazines will now be legal unless otherwise prohibited by State Laws.  In plain terms the AWB sought to limit these weapons to 10 rds whereas the normal configuration was 20rd and 30rd and in some cases more.  In handguns the normal capacity magazines were 13, 15 (the common LE version), or more, up to 33.

4.  Certain versions of weapons banned from importation will be able to be manufactured in the USA from parts, some foreign, some domestic.

5.  The Ice Cream truck will not be pulling up in your neighborhood selling full automatic Uzis and AK-47s out of the back to your children.

6.  The safe storage of dangerous weapons is already addressed by law.  The right of self-defense is universally acknowledged...

6.  The streets will not be "flooded" with weapons but gun owners that desire evil features on their guns (think mag wheels and dual exhausts) will be able to buy them in that configuration.  They will be able to buy magazines in normal configurations (think Costco).

7.  Criminals will continue to obtain weapons as they always have.  Terrorists will use a pre-ban 747 or a post-ban 747, a fuel bomb or plastic explosives, a sharpened toothbrush or a box-cutter, a pistol or a shotgun, and yes even a rifle, semi-auto and evil looking.   Most importantly, terrorists will use our FREEDOMS as a weapon against us.  Those freedoms include, speech, religion, property, assembly and yes, the quaint, but still viable right to SELF-DEFENSE, made possible by the 2nd Amendment's guarantee of our right to own and carry arms as a means of protection.  It does not indicate paranoia but does allow for individual responsibility and enlightened self-interest.

8.  Law-abiding citizens, NRA members or otherwise, are not domestic enemies contrary to the belief of LAPD Chief William Bratton and other Chief Law Enforcement Officers around the country who are appointed by politicians.