The Bush Administration's July 1989 ban on the importation of rapid-fire assault-style rifles always seemed ineffectual. It mainly protected domestic gunmakers from competition. Last week the ban seemed still more illusory. The | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms announced that it could not prevent imports of guns like AK-47s if they were redesigned to remove military-style features such as large-capacity magazines, flash suppressors and bayonets. Such changes may make the rifles less deadly, but buyers can turn the guns into people killers with easy-to-get kits. Manufacturers, says Josh Sugarmann, director of the Firearms Policy Project, have "left the guts of...
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