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115-708: However, the BDM failed to win any large scale law enforcement contracts, so was instead sold only in the retail market. Having a similar profile to the Browning P-35 Hi-Power, the BDM and its variants are often conflated as mere variants of the much older P-35 model, or other newer Browning or FN Herstal pistols that were updated variants of the P-35, such as the Hi-Power DAO model. The Browning model BDM and its variants were designed and developed exclusively by

230-561: A writing system , built huge pyramids and temples , had a complex calendar , and developed the concept of zero around 400 CE. The first recorded European references to North America are in Norse sagas where it is referred to as Vinland . The earliest verifiable instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact by any European culture with the North America mainland has been dated to around 1000 CE. The site , situated at

345-602: A 1993 CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll that found 77 percent of Americans supported a ban on the manufacture, sale, and possession of such weapons. US Representative Jack Brooks (D-TX), then chair of the House Judiciary Committee, tried unsuccessfully to remove the assault weapons ban section from the crime bill. The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) opposed the ban. In November 1993, NRA spokesman Bill McIntyre said that assault weapons "are used in only 1 per cent of all crimes". The low usage statistic

460-677: A 2001 study the National Research Council in 2005, stated "evaluation of the short-term effects of the 1994 federal assault weapons ban did not reveal any clear impacts on gun violence outcomes." A book published by John Lott in 1998 found no impact of these bans on violent crime rates. Koper, Woods, and Roth studies focus on gun murders, while Lott's look at murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assaults. Unlike their work, Lott's research accounted for state assault weapon bans and twelve other different types of gun control laws. A 2002 study by Koper and Roth found that around

575-458: A higher level of training and expertise, such as SWAT and hostage rescue teams. During the 1990s, double-action/single action (DA/SA) and double-action-only (DAO) pistols were the types that the majority in law enforcement administration and procurement were looking to purchase and issue to their rank-and-file officers. Browning Arms Company decided to design, develop, and manufacture their own new pistol model, and any variants, solely in-house in

690-461: A higher level of trigger discipline than handguns with a longer and heavier trigger pull, such as double-action (DA) revolvers, which the vast majority of law-enforcement personnel of the 20th century had been trained to operate. There are relatively few law enforcement agencies that authorize the use of semi-automatic pistols with single-action only (SAO) triggers, due to belief that such pistols are better suited for military use or for operators with

805-402: A law enforcement official involved in a potentially lethal armed encounter suddenly experiences the almost inevitable adrenaline rush of anticipated or perceived danger. In such a situation, a single-action only trigger mechanism requiring a lighter finger pressure and shorter actuation is considered to lack sufficient inherent resistance to unintentional discharge for typical police use, requiring

920-552: A one-feature test for a firearm to qualify as an assault weapon rather than the two-feature test of the defunct ban. The GOP Congressional delegation from Texas and the NRA condemned Feinstein's bill. On March 14, 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a version of the bill along party lines. On April 17, 2013, AWB 2013 failed on a Senate vote of 40 to 60. On March 23, 2021, President Joe Biden proposed

1035-664: A period of mountain building called the Laramide orogeny , between 80 and 55 mya. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama that connected the continent to South America arguably occurred approximately 12 to 15 mya, and the Great Lakes (as well as many other northern freshwater lakes and rivers) were carved by receding glaciers about 10,000 years ago. North America is the source of much of what humanity knows about geologic time periods. The geographic area that would later become

1150-590: A powerful earthquake killed seven people in 2009. Volcanic eruptions are common in the region. In 1968, the Arenal Volcano , in Costa Rica, erupted and killed 87 people. Fertile soils from weathered volcanic lavas have made it possible to sustain dense populations in agriculturally productive highland areas. Central America has many mountain ranges ; the longest are the Sierra Madre de Chiapas ,

1265-466: A rifle. In the same year, there were 12765 murders, of which only 322 were committed using a rifle. A 2015 study found a small decrease in the rate of mass shootings followed by increases beginning after the ban was lifted. The Columbine High School massacre , in which two shooters murdered 13 people, occurred in 1999 while the ban was in place. One of the shooters used a semi-automatic pistol and high-capacity magazines that were prospectively banned by

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1380-458: A town hall forum, responding to questions from survivors of the 2018 Stoneman-Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. Several constitutional challenges were filed against provisions of the ban, but all were rejected by the courts. There were multiple attempts to renew the ban, but none succeeded. A February 2013 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report to Congress said that

1495-540: A variety of reactions, including curiosity, trading, cooperation, resignation, and resistance. The indigenous population declined substantially following European arrival, primarily due to the introduction of Eurasian diseases, such as smallpox , to which the indigenous peoples lacked immunity, and because of violent conflicts with Europeans. Indigenous culture changed significantly and their affiliation with political and cultural groups also changed. Several linguistic groups died out , and others changed quite quickly. On

1610-665: Is a very large continent that extends from north of the Arctic Circle to south of the Tropic of Cancer . Greenland, along with the Canadian Shield , is tundra with average temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 °C (50 to 68 °F), but central Greenland is composed of a very large ice sheet. This tundra radiates throughout Canada, but its border ends near the Rocky Mountains (but still contains Alaska) and at

1725-524: Is an ancient craton which forms the geologic core of North America; it formed between 1.5 and 1.0 billion years ago during the Proterozoic eon. The Canadian Shield is the largest exposure of this craton. From the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic eras, North America was joined with the other modern-day continents as part of the supercontinent Pangaea , with Eurasia to its east. One of

1840-546: Is in present-day Panama at the Darien Gap on the Colombia -Panama border, placing almost all of Panama within North America. Alternatively, some geologists physiographically locate its southern limit at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec , Mexico, with Central America extending southeastward to South America from this point. The Caribbean islands, or West Indies, are considered part of North America. The continental coastline

1955-534: Is inconclusive evidence of an effect on total homicides and firearm homicides. A 2014 study found no impacts on homicide rates with an assault weapon ban. A 2014 book published by Oxford University Press noted that "There is no compelling evidence that [the ban] saved lives," but added that "a more stringent or longer-lasting ban might well have been more effective." A 2019 DiMaggio et al. study looked at mass shooting data for 1981 to 2017 and found that mass-shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur during

2070-628: Is known as "the sporting purposes test". ) Following the enactment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, the ATF determined that "certain semiautomatic assault rifles could no longer be imported even though they were permitted to be imported under the 1989 'sporting purposes test' because they had been modified to remove all of their military features other than the ability to accept a detachable magazine" and so in April 1998, it "prohibited

2185-648: Is long and irregular. The Gulf of Mexico is the largest body of water indenting the continent, followed by Hudson Bay . Others include the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Gulf of California . Before the Central American isthmus formed, the region had been underwater. The islands of the West Indies delineate a submerged former land bridge , which had connected North and South America via what are now Florida and Venezuela . There are several islands off

2300-561: Is part of North America geographically. In a geologic sense, Bermuda is not part of the Americas, but an oceanic island that was formed on the fissure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge over 100 million years ago (mya). The nearest landmass to it is Cape Hatteras , North Carolina . However, Bermuda is often thought of as part of North America, especially given its historical, political and cultural ties to Virginia and other parts of

2415-707: Is the Morrison Formation of the western U.S. Canada is geologically one of the oldest regions in the world, with more than half of the region consisting of Precambrian rocks that have been above sea level since the beginning of the Palaeozoic era. Canada's mineral resources are diverse and extensive. Across the Canadian Shield and in the north there are large iron, nickel, zinc , copper, gold, lead, molybdenum , and uranium reserves. Large diamond concentrations have been recently developed in

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2530-527: Is the humid subtropical climate . This area has the wettest cities in the contiguous U.S. , with annual precipitation reaching 67 in (1,700 mm) in Mobile, Alabama . Stretching from the borders of the humid continental and subtropical climates, and going west to the Sierra Nevada , south to the southern tip of Durango , north to the border with tundra climate, the steppe / desert climates are

2645-729: The Americas at least 20,000 years ago, but various evidence points to possibly earlier dates. The Paleo-Indian period in North America followed the Last Glacial Period, and lasted until about 10,000 years ago when the Archaic period began. The classic stage followed the Archaic period, and lasted from approximately the 6th to 13th centuries. Beginning in 1000 AD, the Norse were the first Europeans to begin exploring and ultimately colonizing areas of North America. In 1492,

2760-567: The Bering Strait during the Early-Middle Holocene . Prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in North America, the natives of North America were divided into many different polities, ranging from small bands of a few families to large empires. They lived in several culture areas , which roughly correspond to geographic and biological zones that defined the representative cultures and lifestyles of

2875-600: The British Columbia Coast , Western Canada , and Northern Canada . In the U.S., they include New England , the Mid-Atlantic , South Atlantic states , East North Central states , West North Central states , East South Central states , West South Central states , Mountain states , and Pacific states . The Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest include areas in both Canada and

2990-913: The Caribbean Plate , whereas the Juan de Fuca Plate and Cocos Plate border the North American Plate on its western frontier. The continent can be divided into four great regions (each of which contains many subregions): the Great Plains stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Arctic ; the geologically young, mountainous west, including the Rocky Mountains , the Great Basin , California , and Alaska ;

3105-716: The Caribbean Sea , and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean . The region includes the Bahamas , Bermuda , Canada , the Caribbean , Central America , Clipperton Island , Greenland , Mexico , Saint Pierre and Miquelon , Turks and Caicos Islands , and the United States . North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), representing approximately 16.5% of

3220-568: The Cordillera Isabelia , and the Cordillera de Talamanca . Between the mountain ranges lie fertile valleys that are suitable for the people; in fact, most of the population of Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala live in valleys. Valleys are also suitable for the production of coffee, beans, and other crops. The indigenous peoples of the Americas have many creation myths , based on which they assert that they have been present on

3335-502: The Earth 's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size after Asia and Africa , and the fourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe . As of 2021 , North America's population was estimated as over 592 million people in 23 independent states , or about 7.5% of the world's population. In human geography , the terms "North America" and "North American" can refer to Canada,

3450-465: The East Coast to eastern North Dakota , and stretching down to Kansas , is the humid continental climate featuring intense seasons, with a large amount of annual precipitation, with places like New York City averaging 50 in (1,300 mm). Starting at the southern border of the humid continental climate and stretching to the Gulf of Mexico (whilst encompassing the eastern half of Texas)

3565-606: The George H. W. Bush administration banned the importation of foreign-made, semiautomatic rifles deemed not to have "a legitimate sporting use". It did not affect similar but domestically manufactured rifles. (The Gun Control Act of 1968 gives discretion to the Attorney General of the United States to choose whether to "authorize a firearm or ammunition to be imported or brought into the United States", under what

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3680-620: The Inuit of the high Arctic arrived in North America much later than other native groups, evidenced by the disappearance of Dorset culture artifacts from the archaeological record and their replacement by the Thule people . During the thousands of years of native habitation on the continent, cultures changed and shifted. One of the oldest yet discovered is the Clovis culture (c. 9550–9050 BCE) in modern New Mexico . Later groups include

3795-719: The Mississippian culture and related Mound building cultures, found in the Mississippi River valley and the Pueblo culture of what is now the Four Corners . The more southern cultural groups of North America were responsible for the domestication of many common crops now used around the world, such as tomatoes, squash , and maize . As a result of the development of agriculture in the south, many other cultural advances were made there. The Mayans developed

3910-450: The Obama administration 's desire to reinstate the ban. The mention came in response to a question during a joint press conference with DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart , discussing efforts to crack down on Mexican drug cartels . Attorney General Holder said that "there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on

4025-488: The first official name given to Mexico. North America includes several regions and subregions, each of which have their own respective cultural, economic, and geographic regions. Economic regions include several regions formalized in 20th- and 21st-century trade agreements, including NAFTA between Canada , Mexico , and the United States , and CAFTA between Central America , the Dominican Republic , and

4140-628: The "Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 was unsuccessfully challenged as violating several constitutional provisions" but that challenges to three constitutional provisions were easily dismissed. The ban did not make up an impermissible bill of attainder . It was not unconstitutionally vague . Also, it was ruled to be compatible with the Ninth Amendment by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals . Challenges to two other provisions took more time to decide. In evaluating challenges to

4255-485: The "purpose of the ban on possession has an 'evident commercial nexus '." The law was also challenged under the Equal Protection Clause . It was argued that it banned some semi-automatic weapons that were functional equivalents of exempted semi-automatic weapons and that to do so, based upon a mix of other characteristics, served no legitimate governmental interest. The reviewing court held that it

4370-458: The 1490s, building cities, putting the resident indigenous populations to work, raising crops for Spanish settlers and panning gold to enrich the Spaniards. Much of the indigenous population died due to disease and overwork, spurring the Spaniards on to claim new lands and peoples. An expedition under the command of Spanish settler, Hernán Cortés , sailed westward in 1519 to what turned out to be

4485-559: The 1994 to 2004 federal ban period, and that the ban was associated with a 0.1% reduction in total firearm homicide fatalities due to the reduction in mass-shootings' contribution to total homicides. A 2020 RAND Corporation review of five studies regarding the effects of state assault weapon bans concluded that evidence for an effect on mass shootings is inconclusive while limited evidence was found that high-capacity magazine bans may decrease mass shootings. A 2015 study by Mark Gius, professor of economics at Quinnipiac University , studied

4600-498: The Act. "Weapons banned were identified either by specific make or model (including copies or duplicates thereof, in any caliber), or by specific characteristics that slightly varied according to whether the weapon was a pistol, rifle, or shotgun" (see below ). The Act also prohibited the manufacture of "large capacity ammunition feeding devices" (LCAFDs) except for sale to government, law enforcement or military, though magazines made before

4715-630: The Arctic, making Canada one of the world's largest producers. Throughout the Shield, there are many mining towns extracting these minerals. The largest, and best known, is Sudbury , Ontario. Sudbury is an exception to the normal process of forming minerals in the Shield since there is significant evidence that the Sudbury Basin is an ancient meteorite impact crater . The nearby, but less-known Temagami Magnetic Anomaly has striking similarities to

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4830-611: The BDM design failed to win any large government contracts, so the company instead advertised and released the BDM pistols for sale in the civilian retail market beginning in 1991. North America North America is a continent in the Northern and Western Hemispheres . North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean , to the east by the Atlantic Ocean , to the southeast by South America and

4945-625: The Browning Arms Company attempting to address the trend within North American law enforcement agencies of transitioning from the use of double-action service revolvers to higher-capacity semi-automatic service pistols. The design goal of the BDM pistol was to help experienced law enforcement personnel adjust from the trigger operation characteristics of double-action (DA) revolvers to double action/single action (DA/SA) or double-action-only (DAO) semi-automatic pistols. During

5060-651: The Caribbean islands. France took the western half of Hispaniola and developed Saint-Domingue as a cane sugar producing colony worked by black slave labor. Britain took Barbados and Jamaica , and the Dutch and Danes took islands previously claimed by Spain. Britain did not begin settling on the North American mainland until a hundred years after the first Spanish settlements, since it sought first to control nearby Ireland . The first permanent English settlement

5175-635: The Cod fish", in reference to the abundance of cod fish on the East Coast . Waldseemüller used the Latin version of Vespucci's name, Americus Vespucius, in its feminine form of "America", following the examples of "Europa", "Asia", and "Africa". Americus originated from Medieval Latin Emericus (see Saint Emeric of Hungary ), coming from the Old High German name Emmerich . Map makers later extended

5290-419: The North America's southeastern coast, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León , who had accompanied Columbus's second voyage, visited and named in 1513 La Florida . As the colonial period unfolded, Spain, England, and France appropriated and claimed extensive territories in North America eastern and southern coastlines. Spain established permanent settlements on the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola and Cuba in

5405-482: The Second Amendment. Since its 2004 expiration, there has been debate on how the ban would fare in light of cases decided in following years, especially District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). Following the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, Congress mandated a study on the impact of the law. A 6.7% reduction in homicide rate was found but the result was not statistically significant. The authors suggested this

5520-479: The Sudbury Basin. Its magnetic anomalies are very similar to the Sudbury Basin, and so it could be a second metal-rich impact crater. The Shield is also covered by vast boreal forests that support an important logging industry. The United States can be divided into twelve main geological provinces: Each province has its own geologic history and unique features. The geology of Alaska is typical of that of

5635-535: The U.S. North America occupies the northern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere , the Americas, or simply America, which, in many countries, is considered a single continent with North America a subcontinent . North America is the third-largest continent by area after Asia and Africa . North America's only land connection to South America

5750-405: The United States and Canada. Markings on each of the Browning BDM pistol's slides list Morgan, Utah and Montreal P.Q. (Province de Quebec), because in these cities were located the headquarters offices of Browning Arms Company for each respective country during the production run of the BDM model and its variants. Although Browning initially offered the BDM and variants to law enforcement agencies,

5865-429: The United States has been the source of more varieties of dinosaurs than any other modern country. According to paleontologist Peter Dodson, this is primarily due to stratigraphy, climate and geography, human resources, and history. Much of the Mesozoic Era is represented by exposed outcrops in the many arid regions of the continent. The most significant Late Jurassic dinosaur-bearing fossil deposit in North America

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5980-435: The United States to meet law enforcement criteria of that time. The BDM pistol is a magazine-fed, self-loading, hammer-firing type which was designed with a trigger "mode" switch installed on the left-hand side of the slide (actually only a flush inlaid disk with a bisecting groove), toggling between double-action/single-action (DA/SA) pistol mode, and the double-action-only (DAO) or "revolver" mode—though, of course, other than

6095-452: The United States, Mexico, and Greenland or, alternatively, Canada, Greenland and the US (Mexico being classified as part of Latin America ) or simply Canada and the US (Greenland being classified as either Arctic or European (due to its political status as a part of Denmark) and Mexico classified as Latin American). It is unknown with certainty how and when first human populations first reached North America. People were known to live in

6210-550: The United States, and Mexico. France , Italy , Portugal , Spain , Romania , Greece , and the countries of Latin America use a six-continent model , with the Americas viewed as a single continent and North America designating a subcontinent comprising Canada , the United States , Mexico, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon (politically part of France), and often including Greenland and Bermuda . North America has historically been known by other names, including Spanish North America, New Spain , and América Septentrional,

6325-527: The United States. North America is divided linguistically and culturally into two primary regions, Anglo-America and Latin America . Anglo-America includes most of North America, Belize , and Caribbean islands with English -speaking populations. There are also regions, including Louisiana and Quebec , with large Francophone populations; in Quebec , French is the official language. . The southern portion of North America includes Central America and non-English speaking Caribbean nations. The north of

6440-435: The area had shifted to the Aztec Empire , whose capital city Tenochtitlan was located further north in the Valley of Mexico . The Aztecs were conquered in 1521 by Hernán Cortés . During the so-called Age of Discovery , Europeans explored overseas and staked claims to various parts of North America, much of which was already settled by indigenous peoples. Upon Europeans' arrival in the " New World ", indigenous peoples had

6555-489: The ban expired. In May 2012, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said that "the inclusion in the list of features that were purely cosmetic in nature created a loophole that allowed manufacturers to successfully circumvent the law by making minor modifications to the weapons they already produced." The term was repeated in several stories after the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting . Senator Marco Rubio cited that issue during

6670-459: The ban reduced fatalities and injuries from mass shootings, as assault weapons are more frequently used for those crimes. Efforts to create restrictions on assault weapons at the federal government level intensified in 1989 after the shooting of a teacher and 34 children , five of whom died, in Stockton, California, with a semi-automatic Kalashnikov-pattern rifle . The Luby's shooting in October 1991, which left 23 people dead and 27 wounded,

6785-431: The ban under the Commerce Clause , the court first evaluated Congress's authority to regulate under the clause and then analyzed the ban's prohibitions on manufacture, transfer, and possession. The court held that "it is not even arguable that the manufacture and transfer of 'semiautomatic assault weapons' for a national market cannot be regulated as activity substantially affecting interstate commerce." It also held that

6900-494: The ban was renewed, the effects on gun violence would likely be small and perhaps too small for reliable measurement, because rifles in general, including rifles referred to as "assault rifles" or "assault weapons," are rarely used in gun crimes. That study, by the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania , found no significant evidence that either the assault weapons ban or the ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds had reduced gun murders. The report found that

7015-428: The ban's impact on gun crime," since millions of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines manufactured prior to the ban had been exempted and would thus be in circulation for years following the ban's implementation. In 2003, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, an independent, non-federal task force, examined an assortment of firearms laws, including the AWB, and found "insufficient evidence to determine

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7130-446: The ban, but none have succeeded. Research regarding the effects of the ban is limited and inconclusive. There is insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of the ban on reducing the overall homicide rate as well as the total firearm homicide rate. The ban was in effect for a limited period and the vast majority of homicides are committed with weapons which are not covered by the FAWB. There is, however, tentative evidence that

7245-432: The continent maintains recognized regions as well. In contrast to the common definition of North America, which encompasses the whole North American continent, the term "North America" is sometimes used more narrowly to refer only to four nations, Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and the U.S. The U.S. Census Bureau includes Saint Pierre and Miquelon, but excludes Mexico from its definition. The term Northern America refers to

7360-452: The continent's coasts; principally, the Arctic Archipelago, the Bahamas , Turks and Caicos , the Greater and Lesser Antilles , the Aleutian Islands (some of which are in the Eastern Hemisphere proper), the Alexander Archipelago , the many thousand islands of the British Columbia Coast, and Newfoundland. Greenland , a self-governing Danish island, and the world's largest , is on the same tectonic plate (the North American Plate ) and

7475-410: The continent. The vast majority of North America is on the North American Plate. Parts of western Mexico, including Baja California, and of California , including the cities of San Diego , Los Angeles , and Santa Cruz , lie on the eastern edge of the Pacific Plate , with the two plates meeting along the San Andreas Fault . The southernmost portion of the continent and much of the West Indies lie on

7590-604: The cordillera, while the major islands of Hawaii consist of Neogene volcanics erupted over a hot spot . Central America is geologically active with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occurring from time to time. In 1976 Guatemala was hit by a major earthquake , killing 23,000 people; Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, was devastated by earthquakes in 1931 and 1972, the last one killing about 5,000 people; three earthquakes devastated El Salvador, one in 1986 and two in 2001; one earthquake devastated northern and central Costa Rica in 2009, killing at least 34 people; in Honduras

7705-472: The criteria for what it defined as a "large capacity ammunition feeding device". In November 1993, the proposed legislation passed the U.S. Senate . The bill's author, Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and other advocates said that it was a weakened version of the original proposal. In May 1994, former presidents Gerald Ford , Jimmy Carter , and Ronald Reagan , wrote to the U.S. House of Representatives in support of banning "semi-automatic assault guns". They cited

7820-514: The cultures of the region commonly reflect Western traditions . However, relatively small parts of North America in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America have indigenous populations that continue adhering to their respective pre-European colonial cultural and linguistic traditions. The Americas were named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann . Vespucci explored South America between 1497 and 1502, and

7935-670: The down and "safe" condition after every shot, the BRM-DAO is a full-time "double-action only" (DAO) pistol. All trigger pulls for the BRM-DAO are essentially consistent. The BDM and its variants utilize within the pistol's grip a removable box magazine, of the double-stack variety with a capacity of 10 or 15 rounds of 9×19mm Parabellum ammunition cartridges. To comply with the 1994 U.S. Federal Assault Weapons Ban , BDM magazines were limited to 10-round capacity after 1994 for civilian purchasers, although 15-round magazines were available for civilians before this legislation took effect, and 15-round magazines were always available from Browning during

8050-447: The driest in the U.S. Highland climates cut from north to south of the continent, where subtropical or temperate climates occur just below the tropics, as in central Mexico and Guatemala . Tropical climates appear in the island regions and in the subcontinent's bottleneck, found in countries and states bathed by the Caribbean Sea or to the south of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean . Precipitation patterns vary across

8165-404: The effective date ("pre-ban" magazines) were legal to possess and transfer. An LCAFD was defined as "any magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device manufactured after the date [of the act] that has the capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition." The Act included several exemptions and exclusions from its prohibitions: In 1989,

8280-479: The effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence." A review of firearms research from 2001 by the National Research Council "did not reveal any clear impacts on gun violence outcomes." The committee noted that guns were relatively rarely used criminally before the ban and that its maximum potential effect on gun violence outcomes would likely be very small. About

8395-470: The end of the Canadian Shield, near the Great Lakes . Climate west of the Cascade Range is described as being temperate weather with average precipitation 20 inches (510 millimeters). Climate in coastal California is described to be Mediterranean , with average temperatures in cities like San Francisco ranging from 57 to 70 °F (14 to 21 °C) over the course of the year. Stretching from

8510-465: The expiration of the FAWB in 2004 "led to immediate violence increases within areas of Mexico located close to American states where sales of assault weapons became legal. The estimated effects are sizable... the additional homicides stemming from the FAWB expiration represent 21% of all homicides in these municipalities during 2005 and 2006." In 2013, Christopher S. Koper , a criminology scholar, reviewed

8625-592: The exploratory voyages of Christopher Columbus led to a transatlantic exchange , including migrations of European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the early modern period . Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples , enslaved Africans , immigrants from Europe, Asia, and descendants of these respective groups. Europe's colonization in North America led to most North Americans speaking European languages, such as English , Spanish , and French , and

8740-562: The first American inhabitants sailed from Beringia some 13,000 years ago, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the Last Glacial Period , in what is known as the Late Glacial Maximum , around 12,500 years ago. The oldest petroglyphs in North America date from 15,000 to 10,000 years before present. Genetic research and anthropology indicate additional waves of migration from Asia via

8855-568: The following makes and models of semi-automatic firearms and any copies or duplicates of them, in any caliber: Gun control advocates and gun rights advocates have referred to at least some of the features outlined in the federal Assault Weapon Ban of 1994 as cosmetic. The NRA Institute for Legislative Action and the Violence Policy Center both used the term in publications that were released by them in September 2004, when

8970-847: The geographic center of either the 50 states, the conterminous United States, or the North American continent." Nonetheless, there is a 4.6-meter (15 ft) field stone obelisk in Rugby claiming to mark the center. The North American continental pole of inaccessibility is located 1,650 km (1,030 mi) from the nearest coastline, between Allen and Kyle, South Dakota at 43°22′N 101°58′W  /  43.36°N 101.97°W  / 43.36; -101.97  ( Pole of Inaccessibility North America ) . Canada can be divided into roughly seven physiographic divisions: The lower 48 U.S. states can be divided into roughly eight physiographic divisions: Mexico can be divided into roughly fifteen physiographic divisions: North America

9085-497: The importation of 56 such rifles, determining that they did not meet the 'sporting purposes test ' ". Under the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, the definition of "semi-automatic assault weapon" ("SAW") (commonly shortened to "assault weapon") included specific semi-automatic firearm models by name and other semi-automatic firearms that possessed two or more from a set certain features: The law also categorically banned

9200-419: The indigenous people who lived there, including the bison hunters of the Great Plains and the farmers of Mesoamerica . Native groups also are classified by their language families , which included Athapascan and Uto-Aztecan languages. Indigenous peoples with similar languages did not always share the same material culture , however, and were not necessarily always allies. Anthropologists speculate that

9315-468: The land since its creation, but there is no evidence that humans evolved there. The specifics of the initial settlement of the Americas by ancient Asians are subject to ongoing research and discussion. The traditional theory has been that hunters entered the Bering Land Bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska from 27,000 to 14,000 years ago. A growing viewpoint is that

9430-477: The late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Browning had several semi-automatic pistols in its catalog which were licensed to Browning but actually manufactured by European firearms companies, such as FN Herstal's P-35 Hi-Power model (Browning model "Hi-Power"), Sig Sauer's P220 model (Browning model "BDA .45 ACP"), and Beretta's Cheetah model (Browning model "BDA .380 ACP"). While these European pistol models had all found use in law enforcement and military units throughout

9545-402: The law's impact on public mass shootings. Gius defined this subset of mass shootings as those occurring in a relatively public place, targeted random victims, were not otherwise related to a crime (a robbery or act of terrorism), and that involved four or more victim fatalities. Gius found that fatalities and injuries due to mass shootings were statistically lower during the period the federal ban

9660-552: The law. According to research done by the Violence Policy Center, in 2016 one in four law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty were killed by an assault weapon. A 2018 study examined the types of crime guns recovered by law enforcement in ten different cities and found that assault weapons and semiautomatic guns outfitted with large capacity magazines generally accounted for between 22 and 36% of crime guns recovered by police. A 2013 study showed that

9775-470: The literature on the ban's effects and concluded that its effects on crimes committed with assault weapons were mixed due to its various loopholes. He stated that the ban did not seem to affect gun crime rates, and suggested that it might have been able to reduce shootings if it had been renewed in 2004. In 2004, a research report commissioned by the National Institute of Justice found that if

9890-657: The mainland in Mexico. With local indigenous allies, the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire in central Mexico in 1521. Spain then established permanent cities in Mexico, Central America, and Spanish South America in the sixteenth century. Once Spaniards conquered the high civilization of the Aztecs and Incas, the Caribbean was a backwater of the Spanish empire. Other European powers began to intrude on areas claimed by Spain, including

10005-927: The middle into the main range of the Rockies and the coast ranges in California , Oregon , Washington , and British Columbia , with the Great Basin—a lower area containing smaller ranges and low-lying deserts—in between. The highest peak is Denali in Alaska. The U.S. Geographical Survey (USGS) states that the geographic center of North America is "6 miles [10 km] west of Balta, Pierce County, North Dakota " at about 48°10′N 100°10′W  /  48.167°N 100.167°W  / 48.167; -100.167 , about 24 kilometers (15 mi) from Rugby, North Dakota . The USGS further states that "No marked or monumented point has been established by any government agency as

10120-473: The model BRM-DAO (Browning Revolver Mode - Double Action Only), or full-time double-action/single-action pistol mode, model BPM-D (Browning Pistol Mode - Decocker). Finishes included blued, matte-chromed (which Browning advertising called "silver chrome"), and a two-toned combination of a silver chromed frame and blued slide, called the "practical" finish. The BDM and BPM-D variant have an ambidextrous frame-mounted safety/decocker lever, which when operated returns

10235-454: The name America to North America. In 1538, Gerardus Mercator used the term America on his world map of the entire Western Hemisphere . On his subsequent 1569 map , Mercator called North America "America or New India" ( America sive India Nova ). The Spanish Empire called its territories in North and South America "Las Indias", and the name given to the state body that oversaw the region

10350-659: The narrowest full-sized 9×19mm pistols ever manufactured (even more narrow than the Browning or FN Herstal Hi-Power models) which made them easier to conceal and to operate by persons with smaller hands. While FN Herstal pistols were manufactured in Belgium, the Browning BDM and its variants were instead manufactured in Morgan, Utah, and officially sold only by retail firearms dealers through Browning authorized distributors in

10465-493: The northernmost countries and territories of North America: the U.S., Bermuda , Canada, Greenland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon. Although the term does not refer to a unified region, Middle America includes Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. North America's largest countries by land area are Canada and the U.S., both of which have well-defined and recognized subregions. In Canada, these include (from east to west) Atlantic Canada , Central Canada , Canadian Prairies ,

10580-440: The northernmost extent of the island named Newfoundland , has provided unmistakable evidence of Norse settlement. Norse explorer Leif Erikson (c. 970–1020 CE) is thought to have visited the area. Erikson was the first European to make landfall on the continent (excluding Greenland). The Mayan culture was still present in southern Mexico and Guatemala when the Spanish conquistadors arrived, but political dominance in

10695-404: The pistol to the hammer-down, pre-cocked "safe" condition. Unless the hammer is manually pulled rearward into the cocked position, the usual first shot of a series requires only a relatively longer and heavier double-action trigger pull. Each subsequent cartridge can then be fired by a lighter, shorter single-action trigger pull, until the hammer is reset to the down and "safe" position by depressing

10810-508: The production run for law enforcement users. After the 2004 expiration of the 1994 U.S. Assault Weapons legislation, 15-round magazines again became legal and available in most states for civilian use. Since the Browning BDM and its variants were discontinued, magazines for these pistols have become increasingly rare and expensive, even though magazines were fabricated for a few years from aftermarket firms such as Mec-Gar and Triple K. The Browning BDM, BPM-D, and BRM-DAO were noted for being among

10925-605: The raised but relatively flat plateau of the Canadian Shield in the northeast; and the varied eastern region, which includes the Appalachian Mountains, the coastal plain along the Atlantic seaboard, and the Florida peninsula. Mexico, with its long plateaus and cordilleras , falls largely in the western region, although the eastern coastal plain does extend south along the Gulf. The western mountains are split in

11040-500: The region, and as such rainforest , monsoon , and savanna types can be found, with rains and high temperatures throughout the year. Notable North American fauna include the bison , black bear , jaguar , cougar , prairie dog , turkey , pronghorn , raccoon , coyote , and monarch butterfly . Notable plants that were domesticated in North America include tobacco , maize , squash , tomato , sunflower , blueberry , avocado , cotton , chile pepper , and vanilla . Laurentia

11155-487: The results of the formation of Pangaea was the Appalachian Mountains , which formed some 480 mya, making it among the oldest mountain ranges in the world. When Pangaea began to rift around 200 mya, North America became part of Laurasia , before it separated from Eurasia as its own continent during the mid- Cretaceous period. The Rockies and other western mountain ranges began forming around this time from

11270-459: The safety/decocker lever. The BRM-DAO variant lacks a safety/decocker lever, returning the hammer to the down and "safe" position after every shot fired. Operating the trigger of the BRM-DAO variant is the same as operating the double-action trigger pull (usually the first round fired of a series) of the BDM and BPM-D models. However, because the hammer of the BRM-DAO model automatically returns to

11385-672: The sale of assault weapons." Efforts to pass a new federal assault weapons ban were made in December 2012 after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting , in Newtown, Connecticut . On January 24, 2013, Senator Feinstein introduced S. 150 , the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 (AWB 2013). The bill was similar to the 1994 ban, but differed in that it would not expire after 10 years, and it used

11500-440: The share of gun crimes involving assault weapons had declined by 17 to 72 percent in the studied localities. The authors reported that "there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence, based on indicators like the percentage of gun crimes resulting in death or the share of gunfire incidents resulting in injury." The report also concluded that it was "premature to make definitive assessments of

11615-447: The similarity of the trigger mode, the BDM has no resemblance to revolvers. This mode switch is what gives the handgun its name, with BDM standing for "Browning Dual Mode" or "Browning Double Mode". The mode-selector disc could be turned using a tab protruding from the magazine base plate, obviating the need for tools in the field. Variants of the BDM lacked the mode operating switch, and so were either full-time "revolver" mode, such as

11730-577: The time when the ban became law, assault weapon prices increased significantly, but the increase was reversed in the several months afterward by a surge in assault weapons production that occurred just before the ban took effect. John Lott found that the bans may have reduced the number of gun shows by over 20 percent. Koper also discovered that street prices of assault weapons and other guns can be three to six times higher than legal retail prices in jurisdictions with strict gun controls and lower level of gun ownership. Attorney General Eric Holder reiterated

11845-521: The world, Browning was looking to compete with other pistol manufacturers in the North American market to develop an up-to-date, full-size, semi-automatic service pistol chambered in 9mm Parabellum and having a cartridge capacity of 15 or more rounds housed in box magazines. However, none of Browning's licensed models met these desired specifications, nor the design goal regarding helping operators smoothly transition from using revolvers to semi-automatic pistols. The Browning Hi-Power model (FN Herstal P-35)

11960-414: Was "entirely rational for Congress... to choose to ban those weapons commonly used for criminal purposes and to exempt those weapons commonly used for recreational purposes." It also found that each characteristic served to make the weapon "potentially more dangerous" and were not "commonly used on weapons designed solely for hunting." The Federal Assault Weapons Ban was never directly challenged under

12075-457: Was active. Gius concluded that although the study showed assault weapons bans are effective in reducing mass shooting fatalities, their effects on the overall murder rate are probably minimal at best. This is due to the fact that assault weapons are used much more frequently in mass shootings than they are in murders in general. Gius calculated that in 2012 there were 72 fatalities due to mass public shootings of which at least 30 were committed using

12190-447: Was another factor. The July 1993 101 California Street shooting that killed eight people and wounded six, also contributed to the passage of the ban. Two of the three firearms he used were TEC-9 semi-automatic handguns with Hell-Fire triggers . The ban tried to address public concerns about mass shootings by restricting firearms that met the criteria for what it defined as a "semiautomatic assault weapon," as well as magazines that met

12305-549: Was called the Council of the Indies . The United Nations and its statistics division recognize North America as including three regions: Northern America, Central America , and the Caribbean . "Northern America" is a distinct term from "North America", excluding Central America, which itself may or may not include Mexico . In the limited context of regional trade agreements, the term is used to reference three nations: Canada,

12420-506: Was considered to be rugged, in most configurations its service sights were considered small and ill-suited to low-light environments. Plus, the Hi-Power pistol model uses a single-action only (SAO) trigger operation, similar to the Colt 1911 type pistol. Many policy makers in law enforcement regard single-action only handguns as an unacceptable risk and liability of unintentional discharge when

12535-468: Was due to the brief time period in which the law was in effect. A 2017 review on the effects of firearm laws on homicides found that limited data from 4 studies published regarding the Federal Assault Weapons Ban did not provide significant evidence that the ban was associated with a decrease on overall firearm homicides. A 2020 RAND Corporation review of five studies regarding the effects of state assault weapon bans on violent crime concluded that there

12650-817: Was in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, followed by additional colonial establishments on the east coast from present-day Georgia in the south to Massachusetts in the north, forming the Thirteen Colonies of British America. The English did not establish settlements north or east of the St. Lawrence Valley in present-day Canada until after the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War . Britain's early settlements in present-day Canada included St. John's, Newfoundland in 1630 and Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1749. The first permanent French settlement

12765-788: Was in Quebec City, Quebec in 1608 Federal Assault Weapons Ban The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act , popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban ( AWB or FAWB ), was subtitle A of title XI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 , a United States federal law which included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms that were defined as assault weapons as well as certain ammunition magazines that were defined as large capacity . The 10-year ban

12880-437: Was passed by the U.S. Congress on August 25, 1994, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The ban applied only to weapons manufactured after the date of the ban's enactment. It expired on September 13, 2004, following its sunset provision . Several constitutional challenges were filed against provisions of the ban, but all were rejected by the courts. There have been multiple attempts to renew

12995-476: Was supported in a 1999 Department of Justice brief. The legislation passed in September 1994 with the assault weapon ban section expiring in 2004 due to its sunset provision . The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Act was enacted as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 . The prohibitions expired on September 13, 2004. The Act prohibited the manufacture, transfer, or possession of "semiautomatic assault weapons", as defined by

13110-473: Was the first European to suggest that the Americas represented a landmass not then known to the Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller published a world map, and placed the word "America" on the continent of present-day South America. The continent north of present-day Mexico was then referred to as Parias. On a 1553 world map published by Petrus Apianus , North America was called "Baccalearum", meaning "realm of

13225-403: Was the nearest design within Browning's catalog of the type of handgun that Browning engineers were seeking to develop. The Hi-Power model is a full-size, semi-automatic service pistol chambered in the 9mm Parabellum cartridge, and has a standard magazine capacity of 13 rounds. However, the Hi-Power design has been in service since 1935, and although it has a reputation for very high reliability and

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