Looking back on the AWB period of ‘94-04

[HiredHand]

I find it’s useful to look back at how things were in order to have a better perspective on they way they are today. I reached the point of being able to buy my own firearms during the last half of the AWB and remember being worried that it would be extended indefinitely. With that in mind, I’d love to hear some of your memories about what it was like living under the restrictions of the AWB.

I’ll go first. I wasn’t into ARs mostly because we didn’t own one when I was growing up and everything I read about them was mostly negative. A buddy of mine served in the Marine Corp and he’s the one that got me interested in the platform. I remember him talking about pre and post-ban ARs and the idea of swapping uppers seemed like a foreign concept to us. Plus, there were all the restrictions that you had to adhere to like permanently attached flash hiders, no bayonet lugs, and semi-auto bolt carriers to name a few. Now it doesn’t seem like a big deal to order parts off the internet and assemble your own AR on your living room floor.

What do you remember?

 

[cal7.62x39]

Being in high school... not knowing or caring about guns. The ban set when I was 20 and I bought my first firearm at 21, then got my first gun bar job at 23. I recall lowball offers from buyers and sellers for anything from ban era, because nobody wanted it. Most sat on the rack for the year I worked there, but man we could not keep non restricted glock mags in stock.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

I think that if they propose putting a ban on Lorcin 22's, we would see a mad rush on buying the darn things. Proposing bans does nothing but stimulate parts of the economy.

 

[HiredHand]

I think that if they propose putting a ban on Lorcin 22's, we would see a mad rush on buying the darn things. Proposing bans does nothing but stimulate parts of the economy.

Sure, but what’s something you remember from the time period that the younger generation of new gun owners might appreciate because they didn’t experience living under the ban.

 

[GC7]

I think that if they propose putting a ban on Lorcin 22's, we would see a mad rush on buying the darn things. Proposing bans does nothing but stimulate parts of the economy.

I bet the politicians who push for bans own stock in gun and ammo companies, so they're cleaning up when they slap that text into a bill. Of course politicians are also exempt from insider trading laws so WTF.

 

[Fyrtwuck]

I was working for a small city PD back then. I went to Outdoor America and I bought a NIB Blue Label Gen-2 Glock 21 on a letterhead. I asked to buy more magazines and they wouldn’t sell them to me without doing a 4473.

I went to the gun show at the fairgrounds after working the midnight shift still in uniform and a dealer offered me $100.00 each for the 13 round magazines on my belt.

During the same time Outdoor America got caught by Glock for taking the extra magazines out of the boxes and selling them for higher prices. They lost their distributor status for a couple of years as a reward.

To see examples of what it was like, go to the EE section of ARFCOM and look at the ads for “pre-ban” mags that sell for big prices in states that kept the ban in effect. Early Glock 17 mags still sell for $80-$100.00 each.

 

[Snattlerake]

I sold my Springfield M1A the day before the ban to a pawn shop. I got a Smith Model 29 6 inch, a Colt Detective Special, and an Olympus OM 1n for it plus $200 cash. Been kicking myself ever since. I still remember the serial number of my baby. It served me well on some bad situations. People were expecting me to pull out an 870 but when they saw the M1A...

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Sure, but what’s something you remember from the time period that the younger generation of new gun owners might appreciate because they didn’t experience living under the ban.

I helped a friend start a new store shortly about the time the ban was being proposed, well before it went into effect. We started buying everything we could and not long after we started our investments, the public started panic buying. We thought we had bought enough to keep stock for a year or so, but it was all sold out in the first 4-5 months, and by the time we decided to buy more, the well was dry.

Just as we saw earlier this year with toilet paper, society reacts to real or imaginary shortages with absolute panic.

 

[mr ed]

This go round will be different because the same clowns that passed the first one are still in office and learned from their mistakes.
If the dems take both houses and the white house you won't own a semi-auto anything. Plus they will probably declare any rifle that will accurately shoot more than 100 yards a sniper rifle.
My 2 cents

 

[DavidMcmillan]

^^^^Im afraid that might be true. VOTE! This is a very important set of elections!