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     The proposed regulations, found on Pages 8379-8386 of the Feb.
19 Federal Register, may also be obtained From the Federal Register
Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19fe98-24].
     Send written comments to: Chief, Regulations Division; Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; P.O. Box 50221; Washington, DC
20091-0221; ATTN: Notice No. 857.
======================================================================
Clinton Bans 58 Imports By Executive Order
     With a backdrop of police officers in a White House Rose
Garden ceremony, President Bill Clinton on Monday signed an
Executive Order making permanent a ban on the importation of 58
so-called "modified assault weapons," guns whose manufacturers
had removed features like bayonet lugs, flash suppressors and
protruding pistol grips in compliance with the 1994 Feinstein
ban.
     Using the same tactic employed by President George Bush in
1989, Clinton claimed the guns were not "particularly suitable
for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes."  But a BATF
survey of "sporting use" -- defined only to include hunting and
formal competition -- was augmented by the 1994 Feinstein ban's
prohibition of new magazines with over-10-round capacity.
     If it stands, the ban accomplishes the announced intention
of White House official Jose Cerda, who told the Los Angeles
Times last fall that the Administration intended "taking the law
and bending it as far as we can to capture a whole new class of
guns."
     In his announcement Clinton repeated much the same speech he
delivered when announcing the freeze on importation of 59 guns
last November.  He again betrayed his ignorance about guns by
saying:  "You don't need an Uzi to go deer hunting.  You don't
need an AK 47 to go skeet shooting."
     The banned guns are variants of just five models, mainly
semi-auto AK-47's, but also including the Uzi, the FN-FAL rifle 
and the SIG SG550 and HK-91 and -93 design types.  The only gun
originally frozen and not banned was the AK-47VEPR -- exempted
because it cannot accept standard high-capacity magazines.
     The guns all complied with the 1994 ban -- despite the wail
of Sen. Feinstein and 34 of her colleagues that the modified guns
didn't follow "the spirit" of the 1994 law.  
     In 1984 BATF used the "sporting purposes" language --
designed to prevent the importation of small and low-cost
handguns -- to prohibit importation of the "Striker 12" shotgun,
which was designed for defense not sport.  A legal challenge
failed.
     The BATF's recent study declared:  "by passing the 1994 bans
on semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition
feeding devices, Congress sent a strong signal that firearms with
the ability to expel large amounts of ammunition quickly are not
sporting; rather, firearms with this ability have military
purposes and are a crime problem."
     NRA-ILA Director Tanya Metaksa has said they will challenge
the Executive Order both legislatively and in the courts.
Widows Win House Seats
     Two Congressional widows -- Democrat Lois Capps, whose
husband Walter died of a heart attack, and Republican Mary Bono,
whose husband Sonny died in a skiing accident -- kept California
Congressional seats in the family.
     Mrs. Capps beat solidly pro-gun Assemblyman Tom Bordonaro
after "moderate" Republicans deserted him after he defeated one
of their heroes, Assemblyman Brooks Firestone (one of three
Republicans to vote for the affordable handgun ban).
     Mrs. Bono, who says she owns a gun, has made conflicting
comments on so-called "assault weapons."  She says she will be a
"mainstream conservative."
======================================================================
Campaign 'Reform' Dead For The Year
     So-called campaign reform -- actually a jockeying for
political advantage between the two political parties -- is dead
for the year.
     All versions would have prohibited political action
committees like the NRA Political Victory Fund from running
independent expenditure campaigns, and prevented groups like NRA
or the Firearms Coalition from publicizing candidates' positions
and voting records during the final two months of an election.
     The House version went down by a lop-sided vote while Sen.
Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) filibuster held in the Senate.
======================================================================
ABC Boosts Eddie Eagle
     NRA's Eddie Eagle got an unexpected boost on the ABC Evening
News in the wake of Jonesboro and the gun-prohibitionist
"Violence Policy Center's" well-covered allegations that Eddie
was NRA's version of Joe Camel.
     ABC showed video clips of a study by the Lakewood, Colorado,
Police Department in which small groups of children were allowed
to find deactivated guns among toys.  Kids from gun-owning
families, or who had been exposed to Eddie Eagle training, didn't
touch the gun, and ran to tell an adult.
     ABC showed mothers who had tried to "protect" their kids
from gun exposure looking on in dismay as their children eagerly
grabbed the guns and began pointing and snapping them.
Killings Revive Juvenile Bill
     Thanks to the Jonesboro, Ark., school murders, which has the
news media in full cry, the Juvenile Justice bill is likely to be
resuscitated when the Senate returns from its spring break April
21.  The bill had stalled this year after being on a fast track
last fall.
     The fact that the 11 and 13-year-olds who committed the
murders will be released without a criminal record when they
reach 18 gives the Juvenile Bill a fresh life.  
     States wanting a piece of $2.5 billion in Federal matching
grants would be required to allow children older than 13 to be
tried as adults for major offenses and to open now-sealed
juvenile records.
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