Curbed Imports of Assault Rifles Turns Into Ban

Turning a suspension into a ban, the Clinton administration today will prohibit importation of 58 models of modified semiautomatic assault-type rifles, after a Treasury Department study found that the modifications had not converted them into sporting weapons.

The ban, which importers will have 30 days to appeal, could affect up to 1.6 million firearms, a White House official estimated. It is to be announced at the White House by President Clinton, Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and Atty. Gen. Janet Reno.

A White House official gave some of the credit for the latest in a series of stiffening actions against assault-type weapons to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and a series of articles by The Times. The stories last year revealed that flawed gun regulations allowed U.S. and foreign manufacturers to modify banned assault weapons to create so-called copycats, which are legal and have different names but are just as deadly.

In the Treasury Department study, which was initiated in November as Clinton ordered the temporary suspension of imports of the modified weapons, all but one of 59 models fell short of being “particularly suitable or readily adaptable” to sporting purposes.

“You don’t need an Uzi to go deer hunting, and everyone knows it,” Clinton said in announcing the temporary suspension and study. “As effective as the assault weapons ban has been, we know that some foreign gun manufacturers are getting around the ban by making minor modifications to their weapons that amount to nothing more than cosmetic surgery.”

The bulk of the outlawed modified weapons are AK-47s, but they also include Uzis, the FN-FAL rifle and the SIG SG550 and HK-91 and -93 design types, a Treasury Department official said.

The AK-47-type weapons are imported from Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Egypt, Hungary, Israel and Poland; the FN-FAL from Argentina, Brazil, Greece and Portugal; the HK-91 and HK-93 from Switzerland, Germany, Greece and Portugal; the SIG SG550 from Switzerland; and the Uzi from Israel, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The modified weapon that will be permitted is the AK-47-VEPR, which does not accept large-capacity military-style magazines, one of the key factors in separating sporting rifles from assault weapons. Those magazines are defined as holding more than 10 rounds of 2.25-inch or smaller ammunition.

In estimating that up to 1.6 million modified imports will be affected, the White House official included more than 1 million importation requests pending at the time of the suspension and up to 600,000 that were held up after having already been approved for entry into the country.

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Officials cautioned that actual imports can fall far short of the number for which permits are sought.

Tanya K. Metaksa, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Assn., voiced unhappiness at the news of the edict. “No firearms in America are protected now that the president himself is deciding which guns will be banned regardless of what laws Congress has passed,” she said.

The 1968 Gun Control Act restricted importation of firearms unless they were determined to be particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes. In 1989, about 43 assault-type rifles were ordered kept out of the United States.

Manufacturers, however, modified many of the banned weapons to remove certain miliary features--but without changing their essential operational mechanism, Clinton explained in ordering the study and suspension of permits.

These modifications, deemed “cosmetic “ by critics, included eliminating bayonet studs, night-sights and flash suppressors.

The federal crackdown on modified assault-type weapons is coming as a California assault weapons bill, passed by the state Senate last month, faces uncertain prospects in the Assembly.

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The legislation by Assemblyman Don Perata (D-Alameda) drew renewed attention after a state Court of Appeals struck down much of California’s existing assault weapons statute.

In its latest incarnation, the bill (AB 23) restricts military-style firearms based on generic characteristics, homing in on semiautomatic weapons that fire many bullets in rapid succession and can be concealed easily.

Perata’s proposal also bans semiautomatic rifles that hold more than 10 rounds, similar to legislation recently proposed by Feinstein. California Gov. Pete Wilson, whose support could prove crucial for attracting Republican backing in the Assembly, may be willing to sign legislation to expand restrictions on military-style assault weapons but not without changes in the Perata measure, Wilson staffers say.