Cheers, sneers as weapons ban ends

Easley gun dealer Sheila Fuller holds a Bushmaster .308 in her J & S Gun Depot store Monday. The gun is a semi-automatic modeled after the AR-15/M16 assault weapon. Owen Riley Jr./Staff e-mail this story

But the 44-year-old industrial electronics technician doesn't think the expiration Monday of a federal ban on assault weapons will make much difference in public safety.

"It's the person, not the gun, that does the crime," he said.

The ban hasn't stopped the sale of such weapons. As long as the gun was made before the ban started 10 years ago, the semi-automatic rifles could still be sold legally, said Sheila Fuller, owner of J&S Gun Depot near Easley.

She has an AR-15, which is on the list of banned rifles, on the shelf and a Romanian-made AK-47 that she just sold for $329.

Cox said he uses an AR-15, patterned after the U.S. military's M-16 rifle, to hunt deer.

Some people around Greenville, though, feel a little less safe knowing that high-powered rifles that can fire up to 30 rounds as fast as you can pull the trigger will become more accessible — although they acknowledge that criminals don't go to gun stores to buy their weapons.

"I feel that it's unsafe because most people who are buying these weapons are criminal-minded type people that are making harm to society," said Yolanda Goodwin, a 39-year-old hairstylist.

"So I think it's best that it be sold to those who may not have a criminal background or those who are of good character."

Robert Stewart, chief of the State Law Enforcement Division, said he doesn't think the ban has kept such weapons out of the hands of the bad guys anyway, and he's not sure that lifting it will have much effect.

"We wish there were no assault-type weapons out there that we would have to be confronted with," he said, "but I don't know that the ban ending is going to have anything to do with it. There's so many out there already."

Sgt. Shea Smith of the Greenville County Sheriff's Office said most gun-related crimes are committed using handguns but that the end of the ban is "a concern" for law enforcement.

"We've not had any major problems with assault weapons here in Greenville in the past," he said. "But we don't know if the ban has played a part in that. I'm sure it probably has to some degree.

"Certainly there is some apprehension about the ban being lifted on our part."

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from Seneca, called the ban "a violation of the constitutional rights of responsible Americans," and said he would oppose any attempt to reinstate it.

"I hope that we can now move on to prosecuting criminals, rather than infringing on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens," he said.

Sharon Waldrop, an employee of J&S Gun Depot, would agree with that.

"It was a feel-good measure that enabled anti-gunners to show anti-gunner people they were doing something," she said of the ban. "But it was never then and is not now effective."

Some Upstate residents, such as Delores Corner, have mixed feelings about the ban and its demise.

"It's really sad times now, but I really feel like we need to protect ourselves," the 45-year-old waitress said, adding, "There are some sick people out there who don't need them."

Others, like men's clothing salesman Tom Monts, defer to the wisdom of law enforcement.

"There's lots of reasons for and against," he said, "but the police captains associations feel like it should be banned, so I feel like they know what they're talking about."

The ban was seen as a major victory for gun control advocates when it was passed. But some political experts say since then lawmakers supporting gun control have felt the wrath of the gun rights lobby, led by the National Rifle Association, Gannett News Service reported.

In the 2000 presidential race, the NRA campaigned hard in Tennessee against Al Gore who had called for licensing of gun owners early in his campaign. Gore lost his home state and the presidential election in a close, controversial contest.

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, said there is no hard evidence that the ban was effective in reducing crime.

"One of the things I find myself realizing is that there is no legislative solution to gun violence," she told GNS. "You can't legislate away accidents, violence and human will to do harm to other people."

She cited a National Institute of Justice study that found no correlation between the ban and a consistent drop in crime since the law was passed. She said the report also noted that assault weapons were used in just 2 percent of gun crimes before the ban became law.

The crime bill banned the sale and manufacture of 19 types of semiautomatic firearms, revolving-cylinder shotguns and ammunition clips capable of holding more than 10 rounds.

The ban has strong support from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which urged President Bush this week to call for a renewal. Bush has said the ban should stay intact but added that it was a matter for Congress to decide.

A recent poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania found that 68 percent of Americans and 32 percent of gun owners support renewing the ban.

Gannett News Service contributed to this report.