Influx feared as arms ban ends

With the nation's decade-old ban on semiautomatic assault weapons set to expire at midnight tonight, Massachusetts law enforcement officials are worried about military-style guns flooding the state and fueling a rise in crime.

Nineteen models of high-powered guns, among them the Uzi, Tec 9, and Colt AR-15, will become legal for sale in all New England states, excluding Massachusetts and Connecticut, which have enacted statewide bans.

Law enforcement officials say there is little they can do to stop someone from buying a locally banned gun in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, or Rhode Island and carrying the weapon back to Massachusetts, in violation of state law.

''We don't live on an island, and it certainly makes it much easier for these weapons to enter Massachusetts," Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said yesterday in a telephone interview. ''It's a shame that this is happening. There is basically no legitimate need for assault weapons. It's just another example of the gridlock in Washington that this is allowed to expire without even taking a vote."

President Clinton signed the federal ban in 1994, but it included a provision that it would expire in 10 years without congressional action. When it became increasingly apparent that the Republican-controlled Congress was content to let the ban expire this year, Massachusetts legislators voted to make the statewide ban permanent.

Connecticut also enacted a ban, but the other New England states have no such prohibitions, which could make them attractive for gun dealers hoping to sell more assault weapons, according to John Rosenthal, cofounder and chairman of the Massachusetts-based Stop Handgun Violence.

''Someone could go to Rhode Island, Maine, or Vermont, and they will be readily available for sale at 12:01 [tomorrow morning]," Rosenthal said, adding that buyers need only to present valid identification and pass a criminal background check.

''I know some companies are already taking orders with credit cards," said Rosenthal.

California, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York also have state bans. Among gun-control advocates and critics, the effect of the federal ban's expiration has been hotly debated.

In the last decade, the gun industry has successfully modified many banned guns to skirt the federal law and allow assault weapons to be sold legally at shops and gun shows nationwide, including in Massachusetts.

Bear Mountain Sports in Newport Center, Vt., for example, sells four or five slightly modified AK-47s a year to enthusiasts who enjoy target shooting, said the store's owner, Thomas Snay.

Bear Mountain's AK-47s sell for about $350 retail, but Snay said he hopes the death of the federal ban brings the price down to about $100, because the guns can be sold without modifications. He also plans to stock up on powerful Russian rifles called SKSs, which he hopes also will drop in price.

''I have a lot of people who love to shoot those kind of guns, and they're going to be happy. They're cheap, and they're fun," Snay said.

In the last decade, Snay said, the ban has done little to stanch the availability of assault weapons.

''You can take some of features off, and it's the same gun," Snay said. ''All it did was raise the prices."

Some federal officials see indications that military-style weapons could soon inundate the region. In April, Italian authorities seized a shipment of 7,500 AK-47s, AKM rifles, and other weapons worth an estimated $6 million aboard a Turkish-flag ship bound for New York from Romania, The Associated Press reported.

Two US law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AP that the weapons were being shipped to a Century International Arms Inc. facility in Georgia, Vt. The company's Internet site bills Century as ''North America's largest importer/exporter of surplus firearms and accessories."

Andrew Lluberes, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, said Friday that the Vermont-bound weapons were cleared by US authorities and had valid permits, meaning they could be sold legally in Vermont after midnight tonight. Calls to the company's offices in Florida and Vermont were not returned yesterday.

Massachusetts' law enforcement officials can do little to guard against the smuggling of banned guns into the state, officials say.

Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless pointed to the 2002 case of a Bronx man who assaulted several people at a party in Pittsfield with a Tec-9 purchased in Florida. ''It's not that difficult to put one in the trunk or under the seat. It's not hard to do it at all, unfortunately," he said. ''There has to be some concern simply because some of our criminal element comes up from the New York City area, and we've had problems in the past."

Gun-control advocates say the ban has been effective. Rosenthal points to a study released this year by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which found a 66 percent drop in the number of assault weapons used in crimes after the ban was enacted.

David Kennedy, a senior researcher at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government's Criminal Justice Policy and Management program, argues that advocates of the ban are targeting the wrong weapons.

''The bottom line on assault weapons is they are very rarely used in crimes. These 7,500 guns that go on the market [from Vermont] -- Will some leak onto the street? Probably. The real problem is all the perfectly ordinary guns that end up on the street," Kennedy said. ''If I had a choice about doing something about assault weapons or Smith and Wesson .38s, I'd pick .38s."

Gary Mehalik, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, also downplayed the effect of the end of the federal ban.

Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole, who supports the ban, plans to issue a statement on the issue today. O'Toole has been trying to quell a surge in gun violence on the streets this summer.