I'm not sure if somebody's mentioned this already, but I think the AWB might have been good for the firearms industry. Think about it, a little over 10 years ago, people were going nuts buying up "pre-ban" firearms and hi-cap magazines before the ban went into effect, bringing in a lot of money to firearm manufacturers and dealers.
Over the course of the 10 years, I doubt anybody decided to not buy an AR simply because they couldn't have a flash supressor or collapsible stock. The people who absolutely had to have one of these features payed hundreds of dollars in premiums, again making more money for the previous owners or firearms dealers. Same goes for high capacity magazines.
Now, owners are again going nuts buying up "sunset guns" or whatever they're being called. If anything, the ban gave us two excuses, one in 1994 and one now to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on new guns, magazines, stocks, and flash hiders. If the ban never existed, I doubt any gains made by being able to sell higher capacity magazines would make up for the sheer flood of orders most retailers are experiencing now.
Don't get me wrong, I hated the ban just as much as the next guy. I'm just saying that it's making manufacturers and dealers a bit richer, and us a bit poorer.