A gun fight is brewing in Congress, and law enforcement agencies or gun enthusiasts could become collateral damage.

Nine years ago Congress, with President Clinton’s avid support, passed a ban on assault weapons. In coming months Congress will have to decide whether to extend the ban past the September 2004 expiration date.

Moreover, bills being pushed by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., would not only extend the ban but increase the types of weapons it covers and expand restrictions in other ways.

“The proposed reauthorization of the Clinton gun ban goes much further than the original law,” Kansas Republican Rep. Jim Ryun, whose 2nd District includes half of Lawrence, said in a statement e-mailed to the Journal-World. “This measure would ban thousands of additional firearms, including semiautomatic shotguns, which are commonly used by hunters in Kansas.”

Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., favors extending the ban on assault weapons now covered by the law. But he said he would have to look carefully at the language in any new proposal.

“I don’t know why people would need assault rifles,” said Moore, whose 3rd District includes the other half of Lawrence. “I feel pretty confident, depending on the wording, that I would be opposed to assault rifles.”

Right to bear arms

At the same time, Moore said he believed in the rights of hunters and the Second Amendment right to own firearms “with some reasonable protections.”

Ryun pointed out that he consistently has voted to support anti-crime legislation and to toughen penalties for people who use guns to harm others. He also has backed instant background checks on people buying guns.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokesman Kyle Smith, right, attaches a high capacity magazine to a banned assault weapon. KBI firearms examiner Bruce Coffman stands by. Some lawmakers are pushing for extension and expansion of the ban on assault weapons.

Chad Hayward, a spokesman for Ryun, said he didn’t know whether Ryun would support extending the current ban as it is.

The offices of Kansas Republican Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback didn’t respond to requests for comments on the assault weapons ban.

That ban, which went into effect in September 1994, outlawed 19 weapons, including certain types of semiautomatics, AK-47s, the Uzi, and shotguns with revolving cylinders, often called “street sweepers.” Lawmakers and some law enforcement personnel wanted the ban to keep the weapons out of the hands of criminals such as drug dealers.

They also had in mind deranged gunmen such as the shooter who used an AK-47 in a 1989 sniper attack at a Cleveland elementary school. That incident left five students dead and 29 injured.

President Bush has said he supports the gun ban extension but would not push the issue if Republican lawmakers, who now control both houses of Congress, wanted to let it die without action.

No sport value

Douglas County Sheriff Rick Trapp has no desire to see assault weapons become legal.

“I have no problem with restrictions on such firearms that have no sport value to them,” Trapp said.

In Douglas County, however, few assault weapons have been recovered over the years, according to Trapp, who also prosecuted drug dealers as an assistant district attorney. He said he could remember only a couple of instances when such weapons were found.

¢Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003 (HR 2038)¢Anti-Terrorism Military Sniper Weapon Reclassification Act of 2003 (S. 429)¢Rep. Jim Ryun¢Rep. Dennis Moore¢Reader Reaction boards

“There has always been intelligence that those trafficking in drugs had these guns, but certainly the handgun, the semiautomatic weapon that is legal, is the weapon of choice,” Trapp said.

Moore, a former Johnson County district attorney, said he couldn’t remember very many cases that involved assault weapons.

Neither the Lawrence Police Department nor the Kansas Bureau of Investigation has taken a stance on assault weapons, spokesmen said.

“Locally we do come across some assault-style weapons periodically, but it’s very rare,” Lawrence Police Sgt. Mike Pattrick said.

‘It’s not the gun’

Legislative proposals for expanding the types of illegal guns aren’t sitting well with gun enthusiasts and hunters. They say it cuts into the sports of target shooting and hunting.

“This is too much,” said Doug Wahl, owner of Lawrence Pawn and Jewelry, 944 E. 23rd St., where customers sometimes bring in semiautomatic shotguns. “If they enact all this, it basically takes away sportsmen’s rights.”

Hank Vawter, Lawrence, who collects guns and hunts, couldn’t agree more.

“That’s crap,” Vawter said of the proposals. “It’s not the gun, it’s the person.”