*********** NOTICE: THIS IS A FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** 
============================================================================
              GOA Comments to BATF Regarding the Clinton Import Ban
www.gunowners.org
Jan 1998
 Gun Owners of America comments on the Clinton Administration proposal to ban
                        certain firearms from importation
Gun Owners of America, a not-for-profit association of Americans devoted to
preserving their firearms rights, submits the following comments on the
proposal by the Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms to ban certain firearms from importation.
The firearms proposed to be banned are essentially semiautomatic rifles based
on the core design of the Kalashnikov, the FAL, the HK-91, and the Uzi. We
would note in preface that there is absolutely nothing distinctive in these
designs or their functioning, save that some people might consider them
"military- looking" and thus "not right for ordinary Americans to own." As a
simple example, the Kalashnikov action is merely a combination of features of
other previous firearm actions.
     The operating system for locking the Kalashnikov family of weapons is
     very similar to that of the US M1 and M14 rifles, and the M1/M2
     carbines. In fact there is little new about the individual design
     elements of the Kalashnikov weapons. ... The bolt is very similar in
     design and size to that of the 7.62 x 33 mm US M1 Carbine. ... The
     trigger/fire control mechanism of the Kalashnikov weapons is far more
     interesting from a design standpoint. ... Again, there is little that
     is absolutely new; it is just the cleverness of the package that is
     fascinating. The trigger mechanism in principle is the same as that
     employed in the M1 and M14 rifles, and the AK 47 and AKM/RPK
     mechanisms differ in some detail from one another.
      (Edward Ezell, The AK47 Story, at pp. 161-62).
We might add that Kalashnikov took the safety of the Remington Model 8, one 
of the earliest sporting semiautomatics, and added that as his combination 
safety and selector. The Kalashnikov is thus a combination of features of 
the American M-1 Garand, commonly used in rifle target competitions, the M-1 
carbine also used in competition, and the Remington Model 8, designed for 
hunting.
The proposal also seeks to ban, as a Kalashnikov variant, the Israeli Galil
Sporter. The Galil is likewise based upon heavy copying. Its inventor
     ...worked up a 5.56 mm version of the AK47 using a barrel, bolt face,
     parts, and 30-shot box magazines from the American Stoner 63 Weapons
     system. The test weapon showed excellent promise. In the next step,
     preparation of a production model, IMI engineers purchased samples of
     the Valmet M62 from the European-American firm Interarms.... To these
     Finnish receivers, his production people mounted barrels machined
     from Colt M16 barrel blanks. A modified Stoner 63 magazine was
     evolved for the rifle.
     (The AK47 Story at 207-09).
Our point is essentially that there is nothing unique about the designs 
named. They are simply different approaches to making a semiautomatic rifle. 
The only conceivable rationale for singling them out for an import ban would 
be either:
  * Treasury believes Americans should not own any rifle, and these are 
    simply examples arbitrarily chosen for banning at this moment; or
  * Treasury finds something of the designs lacking in aesthetics; a
    semiautomatic rifle should have its gas tube below rather than above 
    its barrel, or should have a small rather than a large safety, and 
    desires to impose its aesthetic judgments on Americans.
Neither of these judgments would be based upon law or upon reason.
To move from the general to the specific, GOA would note that the statute
provides that Treasury "shall" authorize importation if a firearm is, inter
alia, "generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable
to sporting purposes." 18 U.S.C. 925(d)(3). These are two independent sets of
qualifications.
The first criterion was considered by Treasury in an earlier proceeding. See
Report and Recommendations of the ATF Working Group on the Importability of
Certain Semiautomatic Rifles (July 1989). The working group recommended, and
the Director accepted, certain criteria for importation. The criteria 
employed were actually negative -- a gun was suitable for sporting use if it
did not have a flash suppressor, bayonet lug, folding stock, etc. Thus the 
working group found that the Valmet Hunter, a Kalashnikov variant, was suited
for sporting purposes due to removal of these features. (Report at 9). And 
thus Treasury subsequently allowed importation of firearms which met the 
criteria set out by the working group -- which firearms encompass all those 
on the list. Yet Treasury now proposes to ban firearms -- most conspicuously
the Saiga rifle and the Galil Sporter -- which have, like the Valmet, 
conformed to the standard and the agency's past interpretation of law.
The Report likewise considered how the firearms in question were treated in 
the firearms community. At the time, it found that some had not been written
up as suitable for sporting use and were not used in those sports which the 
drafters considered acceptable.1
But since the Report there have been significant changes. First, with the
widespread use of these firearms in sport, gun magazines have documented 
their sporting use. As but one example, we would cite an article in the 
"Hunting Guns" column of The American Hunter, March 1989 at p. 56. The 
article is devoted to the H&K 91. It notes that the author has hunted black 
bear, Dall sheep, and coyotes with that rifle, and notes that the rifle has 
many attributes useful to a hunting arm: dependability, minute-of-angle 
accuracy, light recoil, and an excellent mounting system for a telescopic 
sight. Any review of Guns and Ammo, The American Hunter, or other widely 
circulated firearm publications will show similar articles depicting the 
sporting use of most of the firearms on the proposed banned list.
-=Continued in next post=-
...          ******** NOTE: THIS IS A FORWARDED MESSAGE ********
--- FMail 1.22
---------------