Frank Lautenberg: “Fortunately, Mr. President, the provision was not included in the conference agreement that the Senate will consider…”

“Fortunately, Mr. President, the provision was not included in the conference agreement that the Senate will consider later this evening and these dangerous military weapons will not flood our streets. This is a huge victory for the American people. Mr. President, the weapons at issue were granted or sold to foreign governments, often at a discount, through military assistance programs, and some were given to or left in foreign countries during wars. They are called curios or relics because they are considered by some to have historic value or are more than 50 years old. One of them I carried in World War II when I was a soldier in Europe. It was an M-1 carbine. It may be a curiosity now or a relic. But I can tell you it was there to be used for my protecting myself or to kill the enemy. Fortunately, neither happened. But I carried it by my side when I served on the European Continent. But they are not innocuous antiques or museum pieces. They remain deadly weapons. Proponents of allowing the importation of these weapons argue that they are historic firearms that are not dangerous. In fact, the amendment would have flooded the market with millions of lethal killing weapons. Under the amendment that was rejected, 2.5 million, semiautomatic military weapons--including the M-1 carbine, M-1 Garand, and M-1911 pistol--would have flooded the streets. The M-1 carbine can easily be converted into an illegal, fully automatic weapon.”