Editorial: Putting a lid on assault weapons

Tuesday, April 7, 1998 | 10:58 a.m.

On Monday Clinton announced he was closing a loophole that had allowed foreign-made assault rifles to get into this nation despite a 1994 ban. The president issued an executive order that will permanently bar the importing of 1.6 million military-style rifles. These weapons had been altered by gun makers for sport shooting so they could evade the ban. But these weapons weren't designed for sports hunting; these variations of AK-47 and Uzi semiautomatic weapons were designed to kill humans.

"They were never meant for a day in the country and they are certainly not meant for a night on the streets," Clinton said at the White House, as police officers stood at his side. The president also had a direct message for those trying to skirt the ban. "You can read the fine print in our law and our regulations all you want, and you can keep making minor changes, but we're going to do our best to keep our people alive and stop you from making a dollar in the wrong way."

There will still be plenty of rifles available for sportsmen who enjoy hunting. The only ones hurt by Clinton's action are career criminals who have no qualms about using their weapons on law-abiding Americans.