Nonsense. First of all, the “Assault Weap:rolleyes:n” ban was in 1994, not '96. And when it expired in 2004 there wasn’t much effortt to renew it. I thought Dianne Feinstein would put up a furious fight over it but she didn’t.
The ban did practically nothing. There were enough pre-ban rifles and magazines on the market to last 100 years. The prices just went up. Post ban rifles just had flash suppressors and bayonet lugs removed. They still had pistol grips and accepted 30 round mags same as the pre-ban models. 10 round mags came with a plastic brace that clipped two magazines together making changing mags lightning fast. Adam Lanzas mother bought her rifle legally and went through all legal channels. Whether she bought a pre-ban or post ban model the fact is she was going to have one and her demented son was going to do what he did with it.
What the AWB did do was make gun dealers such as myself an obscene amount of money. People were paying top dollar for junk I couldn’t previously have given away. Like Tec-22 Scorpions. And they were crap. But tell someone they won’t be able to get something anymore and they want it even more! Hell, I wished they had renewed the ban just for profit reasons.
As for the NRA, there are other pro-gun rights organizations that are far more no compromise, such as Gun Owners of America. Just look at how the NRA rolled over and played dead to the illegal method Trump got bump stocks banned. If gun owners and manufacturers bailed on the NRA and gave their money to GOA we’d be much better off.