Gunning For Assault Rifles

An import ban will slow the boom in semiautomatic weapons

Technology has a way of mocking history. When the framers of the Constitution provided Americans with the right to bear arms, they could hardly have imagined the development of high-powered semiautomatic weapons capable of firing more than 30 rounds in a clip. The slaughter last January of five Stockton, Calif., schoolchildren by a psychopath wielding an imitation AK-47 assault rifle awakened the public to the danger of these paramilitary weapons. Police have complained of being outgunned by drug dealers with Uzis and AR- 15s. Urban emergency rooms have started resembling MASH units, with doctors treating the sort of huge gunshot wounds...

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