To the Editor:

On Jan. 14, Mr. John Deegan of Huntley wrote that he did not understand why a reader would propose outlawing automatic and assault type weapons since they already were banned by laws passed in the 1930s.

Of course, that legislation referred to rapid fire machine guns, which were the weapons of choice for criminals in those days. What we really are talking about today are automatic and assault-type weapons as described in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which was allowed to expire in 2004. This legislation commonly has been known as the federal assault weapons ban or semiautomatic assault weapons ban and barred the manufacture of 19 specific semi-automatic firearms, classified as "assault weapons" as well as any semi-automatic rifle, pistol, or shotgun that is capable of accepting a detachable magazine.