Gun Control & RKBA

the shooters at the pistol range I went to were using revolvers. In a couple of years most more shooting semiautomatic pistols. Although during the ban the firearms sold were limited to 10 round magazines most shooters spent a small fortune to buy high capacity magazines. Such magazines were legal as long as they had been manufactured prior to a certain cut off date.

During the first Assault Weapons Ban rifles such as the AR-15 became popular. Prior to the ban the AR-15 had a reputation as an underpowered, unreliable firearm that tended to jam and wasn’t all that accurate. Few shooters had any interest in owning one. The ban caused some to buy one out of curiosity and they reported they actually were quite reliable and accurate. Soon almost every member at my pistol range owned an AR-15 and of course a couple of 20 or 30 round magazines.

The first Assault Weapons Ban really was largely responsible for making semi-automatic firearms as popular as they are today.