Herbert Klein: “today we have an opportunity to save American lives. The 19 specific weapons we seek to ban are all copies of…”

“today we have an opportunity to save American lives. The 19 specific weapons we seek to ban are all copies of military-style submachineguns; they were designed to kill people at close quarters with rapid fire lethal bursts and they have succeeded. These guns have been connected with more than 1,100 murders; they are the weapons of choice for drug dealers, and they have been linked to approximately 2,000 narcotics arrests. Ninety percent of these weapons are in the hands of criminals. Although they are only 1 percent of all guns, they account for nearly 10 percent of violent crimes. Let us take a look at some typical examples of how these weapons have been used by violent criminals, drug dealers, and murderers: A suspect was arrested in St. Louis for dealing in cocaine. He had 30 assault weapons in his possession, including an FN/FNC, banned under this bill. A self-styled survivalist was arrested in Dallas for possession of a large quantity of cocaine--they also found two Steyr AUG's and Two AR- 15's with a grenade launcher attachment plus equipment to convert them to fully automatic guns. In New Orleans, a known gang member and multiple conviction felon with a conviction for a drive-by shootings was found in possession of a street sweeper and a TEC-22. In Minneapolis, authorities confiscated a tax protester's street sweeper shotgun decorated with swastikas and ``White Power'' insignias.”