The premise on which Congress asserted those powers is that crime is a nationwide problem and that guns, drugs, and criminals move across state lines. On that premise, no area of American life is immune to a similar as- sertion of federal powers. Some provisions are an abuse of civil liberties. In cases involving sexual assault or child molestation, the rules of evidence are changed to permit evidence on the defendant's prior behavior. Juveniles convicted of violent crimes or serious drug offenses are to be subject to an additional sentence of up to 10 years if they are also members of street gangs.
Some provisions are counterproductive.
A third conviction for a serious offense not involving murder is punishable by life imprisonment, a longer sentence than for most murders. Such increases in the penalties for less heinous crimes reduce the incremental penalty for more heinous crimes. The banned rifles are not functionally different from hundreds of still-legal rifles, the aggregate of which is used in about 1 percent of crimes involving a gun. No one contends that this ban will reduce the crime rate. The ban is hotly contended, primarily because its supporters hope and its critics fear that it will serve as precedent for a broader ban of semiautomatic rifles.