The US Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry has rebuked President George W. Bush for allowing a ban on assault weapons expire. Kerry claims his Republican rival paid for tax cuts by taking police off the streets and cutting anti-drug programs.
Kerry, who will face Bush in the November 2 election, said the president had chosen "his powerful and well-connected friends" in a secret deal with the gun lobby over the police officers and families he promised to protect.
"Ten years ago today, with the leadership of police officers all over the country, we passed a tough crime bill to protect America," the Massachusetts senator told supporters at the Thurgood Marshall Centre on Monday.
"We made sure, in a tough fight, that criminals couldn't get their hands on military assault weapons, and we put 100,000 cops into our nation's communities where they could make an impact and stop crimes," he said.
Under a 10-year prohibition enacted in 1994 which expired on Monday, certain powerful military-style assault weapons were outlawed, as were high-capacity ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds.
Kerry, who said he was a lifelong hunter and has portrayed himself as an avid outdoorsman to appeal to more conservative voters, pledged to uphold the Constitution's Second Amendment allowing Americans to bear arms.
But he criticised Bush for proposing cuts to the Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program that Kerry helped pass 10 years ago. It provides grants to state and local agencies to hire police officers. Bush proposed cutting it from $482 million to $97 million next year.
"When his powerful and well-connected friends asked for a massive tax cut, he said 'sure' and he's paid for it by gutting the COPS program, slashing gang prevention and cutting enforcement programs that keep drugs like meth off the streets," Kerry said.
"So, tomorrow for the first time in 10 years when a killer walks into a gun shop, when a terrorist goes to a gun show somewhere in America, when they want to purchase an AK-47 or some other military assault weapon, they're going to hear one word: 'sure.'"