Tonight at midnight, the 1994 ban on certain semiautomatic assault weapons most likely will expire.

This marks a failure in leadership and a capitulation by Washington to the gun lobby.

Already, the lines are forming for the chance to buy weapons such as Uzis and Tech-9s, along with large-capacity magazines and other refinements necessary to turn them into extremely effective killing machines.

In Washington, the truth has been completely eclipsed by half-truths, dodges and straight-out lies.

President Bush says he supports renewing the ban, but he has done nothing politically to advance the legislation. The president’s party controls all three branches of the federal government. If he had the political will, he could see to it that the assault weapons ban was renewed.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, says that there’s no need to extend the ban because the American people don’t like it. But polls consistently show that two-thirds of Americans do support the ban and would like to see it continue.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, says the issue won’t come to a vote, and that it wouldn’t pass because there isn’t enough support. We’ll never know because Republican leaders refuse to allow consideration of the ban.

Maine activists say they will introduce legislation in Augusta to replace the national ban. We support that effort, but realize that state legislation is a less desirable substitute for a federal ban.

The assault weapons ban is not perfect. While it bans 19 types of weapons, loopholes in the law allow knockoffs onto the market. But keeping any of these weapons off the street, even if with a flawed law, is better than throwing the floodgates open to gun-makers hawking the latest in killing technology that have but one use: to kill people.

In Maine, 41 chiefs of police have publicly supported the assault weapons ban. These include the chiefs from Auburn, Dixfield, Lewiston, Lisbon, Mechanic Falls, Oxford, Paris and Sabattus, plus the Oxford County sheriff and the Maine Chiefs of Police Association.

These are the people – and departments – sworn to protect our communities. In their judgment, and ours, these weapons have no place in our communities.