00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 58                                                                                           
01 Endorsing and supporting federal legislation to ban the manufacture, transfer, and                                      
02 possession of military-style semi-automatic assault weapons.                                                            
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS assault weapons were originally designed for neutralizing as many soldiers                                     
05 as possible in as little time as possible; and                                                                          
06  WHEREAS assault weapons are linked to crime substantially out of proportion to their                                   
07 numbers; and                                                                                                            
08  WHEREAS assault weapons have been used to kill and maim peace and police                                               
09 officers; and                                                                                                           
10  WHEREAS assault weapons are frequently used to create mayhem by people involved                                        
11 in drug trading and by the mentally unstable; and                                                                       
12  WHEREAS virtually every law enforcement agency nationwide has endorsed the ban                                         
13 of assault weapons; and                                                                                                 
14  WHEREAS placing restrictions on the manufacture, transfer, and possession of assault                                   

01 weapons will not interfere with traditional hunting or recreational purposes; and                                       
02  WHEREAS President Clinton, in his State of the Union address, called upon the                                          
03 nation's hunters to support legislation placing restrictions on the manufacture, transfer, and                          
04 possession of assault weapons; and                                                                                      
05  WHEREAS a national poll showed that 79 percent of Americans favor strict control                                       
06 of assault weapons; and                                                                                                 
07  WHEREAS the United States Senate has passed legislation that would ban nineteen                                        
08 separate semi-automatic weapons; and                                                                                    
09  WHEREAS more than 650 weapons would not be affected and would be protected                                             
10 under this legislation;                                                                                                 
11  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature endorses and supports federal                                         
12 legislation to ban the manufacture, transfer, and possession of military-style semi-automatic                           
13 assault weapons.                                                                                                        
14  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
15 United States, and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S.                                 
16 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
17 delegation in Congress.