Sherp, I am still confused. Did Bush ban them and Obama ban them again? Who unbanned them? You did say Bush put a stop to the work arounds in 2005, did you not? miles
What is confusing about it?
Bush I banned the import of 100% imported part semi-auto assault rifles via executive order in 1989.
After that, unscrupulous individuals figured out loopholes to get around Bush's via thumbholes stocks and US made parts.
Bush II had his ATF ban imported take off barrels and new replacement receivers in 2005 that were being used to make clones of the 1989 banned guns.. This is why you see AK/FAL/HK rifles (US weapons such as Garands and M16 that were given to foreign countries and then reimported when those countries were done with them) advertised by Sportsman's Guide and other vendors.
Unscrupulous individuals were importing sporterized variants of Russian AK's to circumvent the Bush I ban on factory built all imported part rifles and Bush II ban on imported barrels/receivers, then converting those sporterized rifles in to clones with US parts that look like the complete rifles banned from import in 1989.
