Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994), also known as the Biden Crime Law, is a piece of legislation, sponsored by Rep. Jack Brooks and supported by Sen. Barbara Boxer on the heels of the 1993 101 California shooting and passed by the US Congress, which expanded Federal law in several ways. Its most famous provision banned the manufacture of 19 specific semi-automatic "assault weapons" as well as many others defined by a combination of 5 features. This law also banned possession of newly manufactured magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Other provisions of the law included a greatly expanded Federal death penalty, new classes of individual banned from possessing firearms, and a variety of new and federal offenses, in areas such as immigration law, hate crimes, sex offenses, and gang-related crime.
Assault Weapons Ban
Main article: Federal assault weapons ban (USA)
Title XI, subtitle A, known as the Semiautomatic Assault Weapons Ban, outlawed the manufacture of any semiautomatic rifle that is capable of accepting a detachable magazine, AND which has two or more of the following features:
- A folding or telescoping stock
- A pistol grip
- A flash suppressor
- A grenade launcher
- A bayonet lug
This section took effect September 13, 1994, and expired automatically through a sunset provision on September 13, 2004.
The National Rifle Association argued that the ban violated the Constitution's 2nd Amendment. (See Firearm case law).
It must be noted that there is a distinct difference between an "assault weapon" and an "assault rifle". In brief, an assault rifle is a military shoulder-fired rifle that is designed as a compromise between the long-range (up to 500m/550 yards) accuracy of an high-powered single-shot service rifle such as the Mauser K98 or M1 Garand with the close-quarters (<100m/110 yards) fully-automatic firepower of a pistol-ammunition-shooting submachine gun such as the Tommy Gun or Uzi. These firearms fire ammunition midrange between the two extremes, such as the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO or the 7.62x39mm Russian, and are capable of fully-automatic fire.
The term "assault weapon" is generally applied to firearms that contain certain capabilities that are military in origin, such as large-capacity magazines, bayonet mounting hardware, or pistol grips.
Many modern small capacity magazine civilian rifles sold for sporting purposes, such as bolt-action hunting rifles, are often chambered for more powerful ammunition than the cartridges the M16 or AK-47 shoot, in order to achieve greater distances for hunting purposes.
Death Penalty
Title VI, the Federal Death Penalty Act, created several new death penalty offenses, including crimes related to drug dealing, drive-by shootings which result in death, civil-rights related murders, murder of a Federal law enforcement officer, and acts of terrorism or the use of weapons of mass destruction which result in death.
The 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing occurred a few months after this law came into effect; The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 was passed in response, further increasing the federal death penalty. In 2001, Timothy McVeigh was executed for the murder of 8 federal law enforcement agents under this title.
Violence Against Women Act
Title IV, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), allocated $1.6B to help prevent and investigate violence against women. VAWA was renewed in 2000. This includes the Safe Streets for Women Act which increases federal penalties for repeat sex offenders and also requires mandatory restitution for the medical and legal costs of sex crimes. The Safe Homes for Women Act increases Federal grants for battered women's shelters, creates a national domestic violence hotline, and orders that protection orders of one state must be enforced by the other states. It also added a rape shield law to the Federal rules of evidence. Part of VAWA was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the 2000 case United States v. Morrison.
Other Provisions
Another provision of the act was to authorize the hiring of 100,000 more police officers, initiate boot camps for delinquent minors, and allocated a substantial amount of money to build new prisons. In addition, there were fifty new federal offenses, one of which was gang membership. This became controversial as the United States Bill of Rights provides for freedom of association. These aspects of the bill were downplayed surrounding its passage.
One of the more controversial provisions of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act overturned a section of the 1965 Higher Education Act which permitted prison inmates to receive Pell grants for postsecondary education while incarcerated. Because of this, the VCCLEA effectively eliminated the ability of lower income prison inmates to receive college educations during their term of imprisonment. [1]