Nation : Ban on Importing Semiautomatic Guns Expanding, White House Says

WASHINGTON — The Bush Administration said today that it is expanding a recently imposed ban on the importation of semiautomatic assault weapons.

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said President Bush accepted a Treasury Department recommendation that the ban be widened, effective immediately.

The action expands the ban to cover all imports of the high-powered, rapid-fire weapons, Fitzwater said. The previous ban, announced in early March, covered only about 80% of imports, he said.

Fitzwater said the initial ban on such weapons, including the AK-47 assault rifle, was aimed at fostering “a climate in which reasonable and well-intended people . . . could work out a thoughtful solution” to the proliferation of such weapons. He said the department is imposing a ban on an additional 24 types of guns “to review their suitability for sporting purposes.”