IT’S A SPECIAL ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN EXPIRATION EDITION of Alphecca’s usual weekly media gun report.

I notice that Kerry was making a lot of noise about the Assault Weapons ban expiring, after being very quiet on the subject until recently, and after trying — albeit ineffectually — to burnish his pro-gun credentials as recently as last week.

I take this as a sign that the Kerry campaign now expects to lose, and has shifted to a rally-the-base mode intended to protect downticket candidates. I could be wrong, of course, but that’s how it looks to me. More evidence here.

It’s also worth reading Dave Kopel’s take on the AWB expiration, and this piece by Timothy Wheeler.

UPDATE: An, er, alternate theory of what Kerry’s about, here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jacob Sullum says that Kerry has played a constructive role: “As the federal ‘assault weapon’ ban expires, we can thank John Kerry for demonstrating the stupidity of targeting firearms based on features that have nothing to do with their lethality or their suitability for crime.”