Rachel Alexander, Columnist and Legal Analyst. “Will Lapse of the Assault Weapons Ban Lead to More Columbines?”. The American Partisan. October 29, 2004 – “The weapons used in the 1999 Columbine shooting included a Hi-Point Carbine and a TEC-DC9 assault pistol, both bought illegally by Columbine killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who were not old enough to legally buy the weapons. If the killers had been old enough, they could have bought both guns legally; the ban would not have stopped them. The Hi-Point Carbine wasn’t even in existence at the time of the 1994 ban. Its use during crimes has progressively increased from when it was first manufactured in 1996, to 505 times in 2000. The Hi-Point Carbine shot standad 9mm rounds; it was much less powerful than major caliber pistols and revolvers. Older models of the TEC-DC9 were still circulating after the ban, but its manufacturers had gone out of business by the time of the Columbine shooting. After it was banned, its manufacturer revised it slightly and renamed it the AB-10 (“After Ban”). Its usage during crimes also increased during the ban, from 8 times during 1995 when it first appeared to 746 times in 2000.
The two Columbine killers had two other weapons, sawed-off shotguns, which have been illegal for purchase or manufacture since the National Firearms Act of 1934, and homemade bombs. None of these would have been affected by the Assault Weapons ban since they were already illegal.”
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