"It was like panic buying. Prices went insane. Absolutely nuts. All kinds of people, some who hadn't even owned firearms," said Marlow, 54, who named his shop for the Clint Eastwood movie. "It didn't really matter if it was an SKS or an AK-47. Everything was selling. From the standpoint of business, it was probably the best thing that could have happened."
Dealers in Michigan tell of selling Colt AR-15 rifles at a premium, only to see the buyers turn around at gun shows and sell the same weapon for twice as much. An AR-15 that sold for $750 or $800 before the ban soon sold for $1,500, then $2,000 and higher. Prices dropped as the frenzy ebbed. Hundreds of rapid-firing rifles and handguns remained legal.
Manufacturers quickly adapted to the new rules, retooling semiautomatic weapons to eliminate the flash suppressors and bayonet attachments. Firing pin diameters were changed to prevent owners from substituting fully automatic trigger mechanisms. Fully automatic assault rifles remain prohibited. Pistol grips were replaced with thumb-hole grips that served a similar function, although they looked less stylish.
The AR-15 came out in a new version, also a semiautomatic, called the Colt Sporter.
"Same gun, apart from cosmetics," said Taepke, who disdains the assault weapons ban and the politicians who back it.
The law also prevented dealers from selling guns with magazines that held more than 10 bullets, an effort to lessen the threat of mass shootings. The production of such magazines was halted, but magazines manufactured before the rules took effect could still be sold. The other day, Taepke pointed to a 33-bullet magazine for a Glock pistol that he can sell because it was manufactured before 1994.
To Taepke and other like-minded Michigan gun enthusiasts, the law seemed less about stopping crime than about passing restrictions that could be gradually expanded to take away gun ownership, which they consider a right. Wolverine salesman Justin Mundy said, "If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk."
David Coy, an Adrian, Mich., accounting professor and National Rifle Association board member, said that "as a public safety measure, it made no sense."
"As a prelude to banning more guns, the ability to ban an entire class of guns made more sense to the anti-gunners. The real issue for me personally is the notion that the ban attempted to legitimize the mythology that there are 'good guns' and 'bad guns,' " he said.
Mundy, 27, likes to shoot. He carries a Glock, an act permissible under Michigan law. He accepts the gun control argument that a weapon that fires more slowly and holds fewer bullets could reduce the chances of a mass killing. But he contends that a killer will still find a way to kill.
"It's not hard to stuff a couple of extra pistols in their waistbands," Mundy said. "People are going to do what they're going to do."
The Wolverine shop has several posters displayed prominently. One shows the Statue of Liberty adorned with a leather shoulder holster and the motto, "United We Stand." Another shows Democratic senators, including presidential nominee John F. Kerry, smiling about a gun control success and urges people to "Vote your sport." It warns, "Your firearm freedoms are at stake."
National polls suggest that strong majorities of voters and gun owners favor extending the assault weapons ban. The figures are comparable in Michigan, a state passionate about hunting. Last week the state declared open season on mourning doves for the first time in 100 years.
Kerry left the campaign trail earlier this year to cast a Senate vote for stronger restrictions and has recently stepped up his criticism of President Bush, who promised as a candidate in 2000 to extend the ban. Although Bush has reiterated that he would sign an extension if it reached his desk, he has not lobbied for it.
