what does pre ban mean?

[oznation]

what does it mean

[Decholder]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_Weapons_Ban
[QUOTEThe Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was a subtitle of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law of the United States that included a prohibition on the sale to civilians of certain semi-automatic so called "assault weapons" including military-style semiautomatic rifles, derived from assault rifles but with lesser capabilities. There was no legal definition of "assault weapons" prior to its enactment, but assault rifle is a technical term referring to rifles capable of semi-automatic and full-automatic fire; no such weapon was affected by the AWB. The ten-year ban was passed by Congress on September 13, 1994 and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton the same day. The ban only applied to weapons manufactured after the date of the ban's enactment. It expired on September 13, 2004, as part of the law's sunset provision......

During the period in which the AWB was in effect, it was illegal to manufacture any firearm that met the law's definition of an "assault weapon" or "large capacity ammunition feeding device", except for export or for sale to a government or law enforcement agency. Possession of illegally imported or manufactured firearms was outlawed as well, but the law did not ban the possession or sale of pre-existing "assault weapons" or previously factory standard magazines which had been legally redefined as "large capacity ammunition feeding devices". This provision for "pre-ban" firearms created a higher price point in the market for such items, which lasted until the ban's sunset.[/QUOTE]

[MichaelJ]

what does it mean

Hopefully it's a term that we will never have applied to our currently owned firearms.

[oznation]

so why is the sks go for more if its stock and just a ten rnd mag.. why is a big deal or why do people make it a big deal if its pre ban

[Decholder]

so why is the sks go for more if its stock and just a ten rnd mag.. why is a big deal or why do people make it a big deal if its pre ban

From what I gather there is no real significance to the term now, unless you are referring to an import, like an HK. Nonetheless, some collectors may value pre-ban rifles simply for historical significance. But as mentioned, you can get rifles that were manufactured yesterday that have the same accessories as pre-ban rifles (provided that they are manufactured here in the US). There may be more to it than that, but I think those are the big points.

[762xIan]

why is a big deal or why do people make it a big deal if its pre ban

Many semi-auto rifles after the '94 AWB went into effect, had evil features removed to comply with the ban.

A pre-ban AK for instance had bayo lugs, and muzzle breaks/flash hiders (essentially threaded barrels) sometimes a pistol grip was removed and replaced with a thumbhole stock.

While the function of the rifle was the same.....the ban affected essentially cosmetic features on firearms. We all know a rifle with a bayonet lug is 10x more deadly than one without.

So, an advertiser selling guns, will mention Pre-Ban in an ad...essentially tells the potential buyers what features the rifle has. Kind of a moot point, but it was something we lived with for 10 years.

[knight0334]

Legally in PA it means nothing right now.

That term is often titled to guns being sold to unwitting nincompoops that think the AWB is still in effect to jack up the price.

[spabula]

Or to ppl in states that still observe some type of ban... Like our northern neighbors...... NY

[PA Rifleman]

what does it mean

It's meaning has been confused over time, and it is strongly dependent on context.

It originated around 1990 or so after President Bush (the first) banned the importation of "assault rifles" in 1989. Following this, the subsequent imports had thumbhole stocks and the bayonet lug deleted. Rifles imported prior to 1990, with all the original military cosmetic features were referred to as "pre-ban", rifles imported in 1990 and later were "postban". It didn't take unscrupulous sellers long to figure out that buyers would pay more for a pre-ban, so the term "pre-ban" was slung around like cheap hash in roadside diner.

Again, in 1994 Congress banned *manufacture* of military style semi auto rifles and this time, high capacity magazines. The domestic makers responded by deleting certain cosmetic features like flash hiders and bayonet lugs to make the current production guns compliant. So, in the 1994 AWB context, it means a domestic-made rifle produced prior to September 1994.

Since the expiry of the 1994 AWB, it's lost most of it's meaning except for that pool of initial military imports that came into the US between approximately 1984 and 1989. Domestic makers are free to make military style semi-auto rifles as if nothing happened, so you can ignore the term "pre-ban" when it's used with domestic rifles.

Sounds confusing? It is, and many sellers intentionally insinuate their product is more significant than it really is. So, upon reading a "pre-ban" claim, the first question should be...which ban? The second question should be..."do you (the seller) have an invoice or proof of purchase as evidence?"

In the case of the SKS rifle, the bayonet lugs were ground off after 1990 or so. The first batch had the bayonets unbolted, later rifles had the mounting hardware cut or ground off. This applies mostly to Chinese SKS rifles, since the Russian and most eastern European SKS rifles are covered under the Curio & Relics list, and are exempt if not modified. So, as a general rule, buyers will pay more for an original SKS if it isn't modified, and sellers try to ask more for a modified SKS apparently to recover their investment.