I am writing a letter to these folks as you read this, but get some e-mails in bound!

AWB Expiration Article

I suggest the executive editor:

[email protected]

Or the assistant:

[email protected]

For more contacts:

www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=CONTACTUS

Why isn't it called a "machete lug"?

I'm going to buy a flash suppressor so I can be invisible.

the flash suppressor, which makes the shooter invisible

You gotta understand the mentality of the Gainesville Sun and Gainesville in general.  I lived there for almost 5 years while attending the University of Florida (Go Gators!).  Gainesville is like a little liberal mecca surrounded by a sea of conservatism and Republicanism, simply because of the University.  Go 10 miles in either 20 miles in either direction and you get back to the real world of Northern and Central Florida.    

The law banned weapon makers from adding more than two special features that were believed to make guns more dangerous and semiautomatic. They included: the folding stock, which makes the weapon more concealable; the bayonet lug, an attachment for a machete; the flash suppressor, which makes the shooter invisible; and a mandatory shorter pistol grip. The law also prohibited guns from holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

How can you make a gun more semiautomatic?  This is just all wrong, but somewhat funny.  Too bad there are people who will read this and believe every word of it.  

My rifle is more semi-auto than your rifle!!  Of course you will never know that since my flash supressor makes me invisible.  If all else fails, I will just sneak up on you and jab you with my machette!!!

Damn, these people are soooo f-ing stupid, it kinda makes me ill.....

It turns out that most of the quotes in the article are incorrect.  I talked to a couple of folks mentioned in the article and they are pissed off pretty bad.

This dimwit spent about an hour at the range with two NRA instructors and could not hardly get one damn fact straight!!!!  Frickin dimwit.

Pound the hell out of them with e-mails, guys and gals.  I am tired of this BS here in Gainesville.

I don't even know where to begin.  I think I need a few form letters.  I'm getting tired of doing this over and over.  When will the ignorance end?

..... and a mandatory shorter pistol grip. ...

WTF

Here is the text:

Gainesville Police Sgt. Mike Pruitt will never forget in 1986 when his German shepherd, Gero, was killed and fellow officers were injured after a shoot-out with a burglar.

Pruitt says it was a good thing the burglar had nothing more than a pistol.

"If he had an assault weapon he probably would have killed everyone out there," Pruitt said.

When the 1994 assault weapons ban expired Monday night, many police officers, like Pruitt, felt the law passed by President Bill Clinton, making it illegal to possess nine different assault weapons, should be re-enacted.

Pruitt, an officer for 25 years, shares this view with many national law enforcement organizations, including the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

The law banned weapon makers from adding more than two special features that were believed to make guns more dangerous and semiautomatic. They included: the folding stock, which makes the weapon more concealable; the bayonet lug, an attachment for a machete; the flash suppressor, which makes the shooter invisible; and a mandatory shorter pistol grip. The law also prohibited guns from holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

But in Gainesville, which is home to many gun enthusiasts, several gun shops and a shooting range, not everyone shares Pruitt's point of view.

"The anti-gunners try to confuse most people in the country that (the once-banned weapons) are assault weapons," said Ron Shema, who owns the Gainesville Target Range, which opened three years ago and has 400 members. Shema said the guns that were banned because of "a couple of cosmetic features" are no different than many legal assault weapons. Shema believes teaching people to use the guns properly instead of banning them is the proper approach to gun control.

"People with firearms need a safe place" to shoot, he said.

At the M & C Army Surplus Store at 625 W. University Ave., customer John Gentry was eyeing an M-1 Carbine and a Bushmaster AR-15 from behind the counter as he talked about how easy the weapons were to get, even with the special features that had been banned.

"This is an 'old boy' town, the locals are clannish, this person knows that person, it's networking," he said, describing the weapons black market.

The law prohibited major manufacturers like Smith & Wesson and Bushmaster from making them, but Gentry said the law did not stop people from making their own weapons from spare parts or buying used weapons made before the ban.

Chris Connolly, who works behind the counter at the store, said customers "keep calling in" about the guns that are now legal, which cost anywhere from $900 to $1,550. Customers also wanted to know when the higher capacity magazines would be available, he said.

It's too early to tell whether the lifted ban will have an effect on Gainesville's crime rate.

"A lot of the folks who push this ban are from larger cities where they have gang problems," GPD Capt. Ed Van Winkle said.

In Gainesville, Van Winkle said, very few people have been prosecuted for assault weapon-related crimes.

Van Winkle was unable to provide statistics about the actual number of assault weapon crimes committed, but he said he believes most of the guns GPD encounters are inexpensive handguns.

Meredith Mandell can be reached at 338-3109.