Originally posted by Lady's Human
I have no problem with firearms regulations that actually make sense, such as prohibiting felons from owning firearms and mandatory sentences for someone convicted of using a firearm in a crime. However, the AWB does no such thing. It bans firearms based on appearance and not function. It is a nonsensical law that needs to go away.
That may or may not be true, I just can't understand why it's so important for Americans to feel the need for "military style automatic assault weapons" though. Are they essential for hunting? Personally I've never felt the need to hunt and shoot innocent animals, though culling to control populations I can accept. I wouldn't feel at all proud of having crept up on some animal and shooting it. The only "shooting" of wild animals I like is with a camera. The need to kill them I just do not comprehend. Some sort of macho power trip perhaps? It's beyond me.

On the other hand, if the reason for owning guns is fear and the need for self defense, then their must surely be some problem in a civilized society. I remember when we were on holiday in The Dominican Republic we met a very pleasant couple from Texas. We got to talking about guns, and Gini said that it was absolutely essential for her to have a gun in her bedside drawer, or she would not feel safe, would not be able to sleep. That's a bit of an admission of failure and a bit sad isn't it? Not the kind of society I would like to live in if that is the reasoning behind the need for guns.

Apparently this bill was set to expire exactly 10 years later if it wasn't renewed in Congress, and President George W. Bush never pushed Congressional leaders to move the renewal legislation.
So it seems that President Bush is going against the direction of quite a few other Presidents here. Apart from Clinton, I believe that former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan wrote to all members of the House to encourage them to pass the ban at the time.

Perhaps the answer is here:
"While manufacturers look for a boom in business as people buy up previously banned weapons like AK-47s, Uzis and TEC-9s, police chiefs warn of an upsurge in crime".
Another example of the President's big business buddies only being interested in their own profit, against the advice of police chiefs, who presumably know what they're talking about perhaps?