George Lucas, creator of the pop culture Star Wars universe, claimed that an "Assault Weapons Ban" similar to the one that expired September 13th would have kept the Empire from striking back against the Rebel Alliance.

"Assault Weapons are modeled after military weapons," said Lucas, "and had there been a ban as effective as the one we had here, the Empire would have been unable to defeat the rebel base on Hoth. These guns are not used for hunting. Not once did you see a stormtrooper out hunting wampas with a blaster rifle."

The Empire, relied heavily on military-style, rapid-fire assault weapons with pistol grips. These guns have no sporting purpose and are precisely the type of guns targeted by the 1994 gun ban passed by then President Bill Clinton. Imperial troops used the guns to spray fire from the hip and slash through the hapless rebel resistance very quickly. The whole battle was over in the opening act.