FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1996                           (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
      AG RENO STATEMENT ON REPEAL OF THE ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN
                                 
     As Congress attempts to repeal the assault weapons ban, AG
Reno made the following statement at a press availability:

"When I came to Washington three years ago, one of the first things
I did was to sit down with America's law enforcement leaders and
ask them what their priorities were.

"Without hesitating, they told me what assault weapons are doing to
their communities and how rank and file police have come to fear
criminals with these killing machines -- and how frustrated they
were that special interests are preventing them from taking
effective action.

"Assault weapons have become the weapons of choice for violent
criminals, drug dealers, gangs and dangerous maniacs everywhere. 
They have been used on schoolyards, at airports, in bank lobbies,
on trains, in traffic, and in front of the White House.  They have
no legitimate sporting purpose, and you won't find them in a duck
blind or at the Olympics.  And more than one-third of all police
officers who are killed by guns are killed by illegal assault
weapons.

"But then in 1994, with the support of President Clinton, every
major police organization and an overwhelming majority of the
American people, Congress enacted an historic ban on the
manufacture of assault weapons.  Without a doubt, the assault
weapons ban is saving lives.  For in just one year after the ban
became law, the number of assault weapons traced to crime dropped
18 percent.  

"The assault weapons ban has worked, and it is unconscionable to
think that special interests in Congress should or could roll it
back now.  The price of going back is too high -- even though the
ban is working, nine police officers lost their lives last year to
these killing machines.

"This is a contest between the special interests and the public
interest.  That's an easy choice: we are standing up for the
American people -- and President Clinton will veto any repeal
attempt of this ban as it exists today."

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