Most people are of course aware of the 89 Bush Import Ban which brought to an end all of the cool 80s imports such as HK, FN, Steyr and Polytech semi auto rifles. And we’ve recovered reasonably well with domestically produced versions of the same.
But what most people don’t remember, or never knew, is that the import ban originally began as a complete ban on ownership of all semi autos capable of accepting a detachable magazine with no grandfather clause.
In 1989 more than a few collectors of military style firearms got out from under them lest they risk complete forfeiture without compensation. This is why there are so many “I used to have one of those…” stories.
Today’s younger shooters generally believe such a thing can’t, won’t and never will happen here. But the reality is that in 1989 we came dangerously close to being England. And here is a frightening trip down memory lane from 1989 issues of SOF. They accurately convey the air of uncertainty that we experienced as gun owners at the time.
Additionally, if you are interested in looking at the actual government bills.
My question has always been what is with the '80s early '90s? There was significantly more moral panics in the worst sense of the word than the decades previous. Mostly starting in California, usually with a ‘think of the children’ element.
The 60s radicals were old enough to start doing things and not just being dumb kids protesting and to think now they are in the whitehouse and very high up positions
Anyone have any statistics as to the number of semi-auto rifles targeted by such a ban in the late 1980s versus the number of rifles out there today? Just curious as “black rifles” and AKs seem to have gone pretty mainstream these days and such a ban would likely impact far more gun owners today than it would have twenty years ago.
At least that’s my perception. I’d like to know if the numbers back it up.
I’m pretty sure I still HAVE that issue of SOF in my file cabinet o’ late '80’s/early '90’s gun mags myself! I was 22 then - just STARTING to get into big boy firearms - and I remember the general sense of panic at gun shows then, too! :eek:
I’ll bet there are 20 times as many in circulation. I go to the public range anymore and there are more AR-15’s than everything else put together. 20 years ago it would have been just me.
I bought my first HK91 for under $600 so they were not expensive
Pretty much all my buds had some form of black rifle
Many like me grew up watching the Vietnam war on TV saw them as a kid wanted them as young adults
Then then the huge cold war scare and survivaliat stuff
But remember they were going after 1911 pistols even so the older grab was huge and wide sweeping the amount of guns hey were going after would be worse in those days I feel
What’s scary is, growing up next to eastern Ohio, I can remember seeing pickup trucks with “Elect Metzenbaum” stickers right next to the NRA decals. The guy was so pro-union that people kept voting him in, despite his gun-grab antics.
I remember that shit vividly. I also remember many saying that it couldn’t or wouldn’t happen. They ate their words when Clinton did it in 1994.
I remember growing up in California and you could buy long guns w/o a problem. The wait on handguns was 3 days (IIRC) and there were plenty of “assault styled weapons” to go around.
Sadly California has become the model of oppression when it comes to the 2nd Amendment.
When I tell people today about things like Golden State Arms and how they were one of the largest importers of semi auto military type firearms they simply can’t grasp it.
CA and NY are models of what “can happen” if progressive leftists get their way.
1989 and later 1994 where the years when I remember guys like doctors and lawyers with significant firearms collections dumping them at a loss because it looked like a ban was coming.
On the other side of the coin were the people who said flat out it would never happen, and they were wrong both times.
We like to tell ourselves that there is greater acceptance of things like AR-15s, NFA collectors are no longer the outlaws of the gun community, we have more aggressive firearms advocacy groups and with the internet we are much better connected and those factors will all prevent such dark days from ever occurring again.
But the reality is, the opposition has also come a long way, still have the favor of the mainstream media, have their own aggressive advocacy groups and are similarly connected and able to use the internet to advance their goals. And if could happen at any time.
Even fewer understand that the renewal of the assault weapon ban actually passed in 2004. It was successfully amended to Larry Craigs firearm industry protection bill by a Republican majority Congress which had a Republican President. Had Larry Craig then not killed his own bill, we might never have seen the sunset of the Clinton Ban.
I remember watching C-SPAN in horror as the amendment was successfully added to the bill. But if you ask your average arfcommer they will tell you political mythology about how the renewal was voted down by a pro gun Republican Congress as part of a master plan by a pro gun Republican President. The reality was we were saved by a single pro gun Senator who willingly killed his own bill rather than allow it to continue with the added amendment. And that same Senator would be later arrested for soliciting an undercover officer in an airport mens room.
Don’t forget that Bush himself said he would sign the bill if it came across his desk. Again, the average arfcommer says “He did it knowing it would never happen”
