American Legion Birthday (101)

March 15, 1919

Semi Automatic Rifle Import Ban

• Wed March 15, 1989 - spring suspension
• July 7, 1989 - Signed into law
• Bush Administration
• banned imports of semiautomatic assault rifles indefinitely
• announced by William J. Bennett, the director of national drug policy
• requests from importers to bring in the rifles had nearly tripled those for all of 1988
• Law enforcement officers have complained they are often outgunned by drug-traffickers and other criminals who carry high-powered weapons that fire many rounds without needing reloading.
• Doctors and nurses in major cities have reported sharp increases in the numbers of deaths and serious wounds from such weapons
• firearms dealers attributed the sharp jump in import-permit applications to a fear by the gun-owning public that purchase of the weapons soon would be prohibited
• Stephen E. Higgins, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, estimated that half the owners of assault rifles are collectors.