A ban on the manufacture and sale of assault weapons in the US ends today, having been fatally wounded in the crossfire of the US presidential election.
President Bill Clinton signed the ban in 1994 in a wave of outrage after a series of multiple killings in schools and fast food restaurants. Even the late Ronald Reagan, a legendary Republican president, lobbied for the law.
But the powerful gun lobby has had the ban in its sights ever since.
And even though the 1999 Columbine school massacre is fresh in many minds, the ban will end at midnight today -- seven weeks from the presidential election -- unless the Republican-dominated Congress has an unlikely change of heart.
When the ban was passed, a provision allowed for it to lapse unless Congress voted an extension. Republican leaders have made it clear they oppose the ban.
"It will expire Monday [today], and that's that," stated Tom DeLay, the Republican head of the House of Representatives from Texas.
A variety of groups tried to get President George W. Bush to pressure Congress to extend the move.
Backed by a poll by the University of Philadelphia's National Annenberg election survey, which found that 68 percent of Americans support the ban, the Million Moms March group bombarded the White House on Friday with phone calls and petitions.
No meeting
Police chiefs from across America sought a meeting but said it was told the president has a "scheduling conflict."
International Association of Chiefs of Police president Joseph Polisar said: "This year alone there have been more than a dozen officers killed with assault weapons."
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton added: "These are weapons of murder. They're not weapons of hunting or collecting.
"The irony is we'll probably have more of these weapons in the United States than there are in Iraq in the hands of insurgents."
Bush had supported an extension of the ban, but said it was up to Congress to find the time for legislation.
The anti-gun lobby blames Bush, who now spends much of his time campaigning in West Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania. These are all battleground states in the election where the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) says that a quarter of its four million members live.
Valuable
Wayne LaPierre, the NRA executive vice president, reckons the assault weapons issue could be worth several percentage points for or against a candidate for the presidency or Congress on Nov. 2.
The NRA is expected to announce soon after the ban expires whether it will throw its weight behind Bush.
It has already condemned Democratic challenger John Kerry as "the most anti-gun presidential nominee in United States history," even though the Massachusetts senator portrays himself as a hunter who supports the right to bear arms.
But Kerry has accused the president of playing with "the safety of the American people."
"The NRA put the squeeze on George Bush and they're spending tens of millions of dollars to support his campaign. So now, the president is saying with a wink and a smile that he'll extend the assault weapons ban if Congress sends it to him."
The law banned 19 types of assault weapons with military features such as bayonet mounts, collapsible stocks and clips of more than 10 bullets. But the debate over its effectiveness has largely been lost in the election sniping.
The NRA and other lobbyist says there is no proof that the ban has had any impact on the number of gun crimes.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
RSS