Lets look at some facts:
Assault weapon is an invented term. In the firearm lexicon, there is no such
thing as an assault weapon. The closest relative is the assault rifle, which is a
machine gun or select fire rifle that fires rifle cartridges.1 In most cases,
assault weapons are functionally identical to hunting rifles, though cosmetically
similar to military guns.
Myth: Assault weapons are a serious problem in the U.S.
Fact: In 1994, before the Federal assault weapons ban, you were eleven (11) times
more likely to be beaten to death than to be killed by an assault weapon.2 In the first
year since the ban was lifted, murders declined 3.6%, and violent crime 1.7%.3
Fact: Nationally, assault weapons were used in 1.4% of crimes involving firearms and
0.25% of all violent crime before the enactment of any national or state assault
weapons ban. In many major urban areas (San Antonio, Mobile, Nashville, etc.) and
some entire states (Maryland, New Jersey, etc.) the rate is less than 0.1%.4
Fact: Even weapons misclassified as assault weapons (common in the former Federal
and California assault weapons confiscations) are used in less than 1% of all
homicides.5
Fact: Police reports show that assault weapons are a non-problem:
For California:
Los Angeles: In 1998, of 538 documented gun incidents, only one (0.2%)
involved an assault weapon.
San Francisco: In 1998, only 2.2% of confiscated weapons were assault
weapons.
San Diego: Between 1988 and 1990, only 0.3% of confiscated weapons were
assault weapons.
For the rest of the nation:
Between 1980 and 1994, only 2% of confiscated guns were assault weapons.7
Just under 2% of criminals that commit violent crimes used assault weapons.8
Fact: Most assault weapons have no more firepower or killing capacity than the
average hunting rifle and play a small role in overall violent crime.11
Fact: Even the government agrees. ... the weapons banned by this legislation [1994
Federal Assault Weapons ban - since repealed] were used only rarely in gun crimes12
Myth: One out of five police officers killed are killed with assault weapons13
Fact: Only 1% of police officers murdered were killed using assault weapons. They
were twice as likely to be killed with their own handgun.15
Fact: One 2006 federal government study found zero assault weapons were used to kill
cops.16
Myth: Assault weapons are favored by criminals
Fact: Only 8% of criminals use anything that is classified (even incorrectly) as an
assault weapon,17 though less than 1% claimed to use these firearms when committing
crimes.18
Fact: Criminals are as likely to carry single shot (derringer) handguns as they are to carry
assault weapons.19
Fact: Assault rifles have never been an issue in law enforcement. I have been on this job
for 25 years and I havent seen a drug dealer carry one. They are not used in crimes, they
are not used against police officers.20
Fact: Since police started keeping statistics, we now know that assault weapons
are/were used in an underwhelming 0.026 of 1% of crimes in New Jersey. This means
that my officers are more likely to confront an escaped tiger from the local zoo than to
confront an assault rifle in the hands of a drug-crazed killer on the streets.21
Myth: The 1994 (former) Federal Assault Weapons Ban was effective
Fact: ... we cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nations recent drop in gun
violence.25
Fact: The ban covered only 1.39% of the models of firearms on the market, so the bans
effectiveness is automatically limited.
Fact: The ban has failed to reduce the average number of victims per gun murder
incident or multiple gunshot wound victims.26
Fact: The public safety benefits of the 1994 ban have not yet been demonstrated.27
Fact: The ban triggered speculative price increases and ramped-up production of the
banned firearms.28
Fact: The ban
ramped-up production of the banned firearms prior to the laws
implementation29 and thus increased the total supply over the following decade.
Fact: The Brady Campaign claims that After the 1994 ban, there were 18% fewer
assault weapons traced to crime in the first eight months of 1995 than were traced in the
same period in 1994. However they failed to note (and these are mentioned in the NIJ
study) that:
1. Assault weapons traces were minimal before the ban (due to their infrequent
use in crimes), so an 18% change enters the realm of statistical irrelevancy.
2. Fewer assault weapons were available to criminals because collectors boughtup
the available supply before the ban.
http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/5.1/gun-facts-5.1-screen.pdf
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