The Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which has been in effect since President Clinton enacted the original legislation in 1994 and bans the sale of 19 semiautomatic assault weapons, expired at midnight this morning.

The act prohibits specific weapons that have features of guns used by the military and outlaws magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. This bill has prevented the sale of AK-47s, TEC-9s and other weapons that can fire as fast as the shooter pulls the trigger.

Letting the ban expire is careless and dangerous.

Nobody wants to speak up about the issue. President Bush supported an extension but did nothing to pressure lawmakers. Democrats have been leery of speaking too loudly about the ban, since they don’t want to step on the toes of Second Amendment advocates.

Some Republican members of the House are ambivalent that the ban is expiring. Rep. Tom Delay, R-Texas, dismissed the ban as “a feel-good piece of legislation” and said the ban would expire, even if Bush made an attempt to renew it, according to The New York Times.

The National Rifle Association is fighting with all its legislative might to keep this ban from being reinstated. It argues that the original ban was useless since it banned cosmetic features without doing anything about existing firearms and magazines.

Let us make no mistake — these weapons aren’t designed for self-defense against thugs and pickpockets; they’re specifically designed to murder people. That is why they are called assault weapons.

These are the weapons you see Iraqis toting on the news as they walk down the shambled streets of Baghdad. These are the weapons that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used to blast 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School five years ago.

It is a mystery why the ban wasn’t renewed. Most Americans support it — a poll released last week by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that 68 percent of Americans — along with 32 percent of NRA members — supported renewing the ban.

Furthermore, 79 percent of independent voters, as polled by Democratic pollster Doug Schoen, also favor the ban. These voters are the holy grail of Bush and Kerry, making it highly strategic for Bush to put action behind his words.

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban has nothing to do with Second Amendment rights. Bush and the rest of Congress need to ignore the intense lobbying by the NRA and renew the weapons ban.

Gun violence is already bad enough in America. Let’s not give the predators bigger teeth.