Bans and attempted bans are always interesting - and usually totally counter productive to the anti-gun cause, given the effect they have on sales whether the bill passes or not.
The AWB in 1994 did more than any other single act to popularize "assault weapons". Once they were banned, it went from a small niche market to something a lot of shooters wanted, with or without the "evil features" that defined them under the 1994 AWB.
After 2004 when the AWB expired, shooters wanted them even more, and at several points leading up to or following various elections or in the wake of various mass shootings when legislation has been proposed, sales have soared.
Oddly, if no one had ever bothered to popularize them by banning them, I suspect more than half the number we have in the US now would have never been manufactured.
The NRA largely sold the fairly small EBR membership down the river in 1994, rolling over on the AWB in exchange for some promised protections of hunting rights on public lands for the larger Elmer Fudd membership. Ironically however, if you step foot on the NRA headquarters range, you'll be hard pressed to even see a traditional bolt action hunting rifle, and the evil black rifles will out number all the other long arms by about a 4 to 1 margin. Same with high capacity semi-auto pistols - revolvers are a rarity.
Things have changed and "assault weapons" are quite often purchased by people you would not suspect would buy one.
Here's case in point. I have to do a two day tour of duty in DC every other week (unless I can schedule my evaluation team to be in the field, plan vacation, speak at a conference, etc, during a DC week). I take the train to and from NC and there are some regulars on the train that have similar schedules.
Given the recent flood in NC, I asked one of the regulars who also lives in NC, a mild and petite lady maybe 65 years old ,how she fared during the flood. One thing led to another and she expressed that she had a S&W 686+ by her bed, a Model 36 by the back door and an unspecified .40 S&W by the front door. She indicated that her dad was secret service and that she's been shooting since age 6. She's a firm believer in good perimeter security, (two pit bulls, a 6 ft fence, and a security system) however she's also a firm believer that the police will never arrive in time, so she believes in taking care of her own self defense.
She also indicated that she owns a "Bushwhacker AR-15" - I'm pretty sure she owns a "Bushmaster" - but stated she's never shot it. She bought it after Sandy Hook when she feared they might be banned and it's a tool she wanted to have around in case things ever get "really bad". She recognizes that while she does not have a current need for it, in a serious break down of civil order, a carbine with some 30 round magazines will be a lot more effective for self defense/home defense than a few handguns.
So...she's coming up on 4 years owning an AR-15 she's never shot, just because she wanted to get one while she still could.
I suspect there are a lot of AR-15 and other "assault weapon" customers like her, who bought one but seldom shoot it, or never shoot it, but just wanted to ensure they got one while they still had the chance.
That is pretty sick and impractical even by modern gun grabber standards.
