BANGOR – The decade-old federal law banning the production of semiautomatic assault weapons and bullet clips that hold more than 10 rounds, expires today.

The assault weapons ban has done little to stop firearms enthusiasts from purchasing guns that can produce rapid fire, and its expiration will have little effect on local gun dealers, according to several gun shop owners and operators at the 27th annual Bangor Gun Show.

“Everything was available,” Van Raymond of Van Raymond Outfitters in Brewer said Saturday while selling guns, ammo and supplies at the gun show. “You just couldn’t make them anymore.”

The ban, passed as part of the Violent Crimes Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, was signed into law Sept. 13, 1994, by former President Bill Clinton.

It banned domestic gun manufacturers from producing and selling specific models of military-style semiautomatic firearms and ammunition clips holding more than 10 rounds. However, it didn’t affect guns made before 1994.

The federal ban also reinforced and strengthened import restrictions already in effect. Arms for those in the military and police were not affected.

Semiautomatic guns are those that, once fired, automatically load another round into the chamber and fire as rapidly as the trigger is pulled.

The ban restricted the manufacture of 19 specific weapons including Avotomat Kalashnikov models, the most popular being the Vietnam-era AK-47, Uzis, Beretta Ar-70s, Colt AR-15s and revolving cylinder shotguns such as the Street Sweeper. The ban also prohibited production of duplicates or copies of weapons on the banned list.

Guns and high-capacity clips made before the ban went into effect were “grandfathered” and could still be owned, traded or sold, which means people could still purchase assault weapons under the ban.

“It will have zero effect” on business, Ralph McLeod of Buyers Guns in Holden said Saturday while at his table at Bangor’s gun show. “It means nothing.”

McLeod, chairman of the Holden Town Council, has attended all 27 Bangor gun shows.

The difference between pre-ban and post-ban guns is mostly cosmetic, said several gun dealers including Glen Brenton, of Eastern Branch Firearms, of Whitefield.

“The only difference is with the receiver,” he said while demonstrating the difference between two semiautomatic guns he had for sale at the gun show. “It has a block on it so it couldn’t possibly be switched over to a fully automatic.

“There is no difference in the function of the gun or what it would do – it’s aesthetics,” the gun shop owner said.

In addition, the 1994 law prohibits manufacturers from producing firearms with more than one assault weapon feature. These features include folding or telescoping stock, protruding pistol grips, bayonet mounts, treated muzzle or flash suppressors and grenade launchers.

In other words, rifles with a pistol grip could not have a flash suppressor, Brenton said.

Despite the ban, many gun manufacturers have skirted the law by making minor modifications to banned weapons.

The Bushmaster XM-15, used by the Washington, D.C.-area snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo to kill 10 people and wound three others in 2003, is one example of an assault weapon that remains legal, even under the ban.

The rifle is a .223-caliber civilian version of the military M-16.

Last week in a landmark case, Maine’s Bushmaster Firearms Inc. of Windham, agreed to pay $550,000 of a $2.55 million settlement to the District of Columbia victims’ families.

The settlement marks the first time a gun manufacturer has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming negligence leading to a crime, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which helped the families file the suit.

The Brady Center was founded by Sarah Brady, a longtime gun-control advocate, in 1983 after her husband, James Brady, then press secretary to President Reagan, was shot and critically injured during an assassination attempt on Reagan on March 30, 1981.

The Brady Center sued Bushmaster and Tacoma retailer Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply, where Malvo reportedly stole the Bushmaster rifle. The lawsuit claimed Bull’s Eye was negligent for allowing the gun and several hundred others to disappear from its shop. The suit also faulted Bushmaster for selling the weapon to a dealer that the families claimed was irresponsible.

Bushmaster’s insurance company will pay $550,000 and Bull’s Eye will pay $2 million.

Bushmaster did not admit fault with the settlement and said in a statement that the company supports federal laws requiring dealers to be licensed, and it would not change corporate practices because of the lawsuit. The statement said the company settled because of escalating legal fees and the dwindling amount of insurance money it had left for the case.

“We felt the compassionate thing to do was to give it to the victims’ families,” the statement said.

As part of the settlement, Bushmaster also agreed to educate its dealers on gun safety.

One thing the assault weapons ban did was to create a seller’s market, Lakeside Arms of Topsham owner Andre Cote said.

“It created an increased demand,” he said.

As an example, because production of 20-round ammunition clips stopped a decade ago, they now sell for about $125. After the ban lifts the price is expected to drop to between $20 and $30, said Cote, who has been a National Rifle Association member since his youth and is certified as an instructor for the organization.

The ban’s lapse is a serious blow to gun-control advocates and a victory for gun-rights groups such as the NRA, which made stopping the ban’s renewal a top priority.

Traditional guns designed for use in hunting and recreational activities were not affected by the ban, Raymond said.

“It [the ban] didn’t really have a great effect [on business] because of what I sold,” he said. “It was just disappointing. We all felt like it was senseless.”

Every dealer at the Bangor Gun Show is federally licensed to sell firearms, said Charlie Rumsey, show coordinator and vice president of the Penobscot County Conservation Association, which sponsors the show. He said every person who bought a firearm had their name run though a Federal Firearm Association background check, which ensures that those who have felony convictions and other restrictions couldn’t buy guns.

“I’m glad to see it sunset,” Rumsey said. “I think the focus on firearms should be directed toward catching and prosecuting people who misuse firearms.

“It [the ban] was a knee-jerk reaction to put something in place,” he said. “If we seriously analyzed it, I think we’d find it didn’t make a heck of a lot of difference and that’s why it’s going to sunset.”