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Myth: Assault weapons are a serious problem in the U.S.

By: Gina Mouth Click author's name for more of his/her articles

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.”

• “I surveyed the firearms used in violent crimes...assault-type firearms were
the least of our worries.”6

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: Only 1.4% of recovered crime weapons are models covered under the 1994 “assault weapons” ban.9

Fact: In Virginia, no surveyed inmates had carried an “assault weapon” during the commission of their last crime, despite 20% admitting that they had previously owned such weapons.10

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 the weapons banned by this legislation [1994 Federal Assault Weapons ban - since repealed] were used only rarely in gun crimes”12

1 Department of Defense Small Arms Identification and Operations Guide
2 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1994
3 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, Preliminary Summary, 2004
4 Targeting Guns, Gary Kleck, Aldine Transaction, 1997, compilation of 48 metropolitan police
departments from 1980-1994
5 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1993
6 S.C. Helsley, Assistant Director DOJ Investigation and Enforcement Branch, California, October 31, 1988
7 Targeting Guns, Gary Kleck, Aldine Transaction, 1997, compilation of 48 metropolitan police
departments from 1980-1994
8 Targeting Guns, Gary Kleck, Aldine Transaction, 1997, calculated from Bureau of Justice Statistics,
assault weapon recovery rates
9 From statewide recovery report from Connecticut (1988-1993) and Pennsylvania (1989-1994)
10 Criminal Justice Research Center, Department of Criminal Justice Services, 1994
11 House Panel Issue: Can Gun Ban Work, New York Times. April 7, 1989. P. A-15, quoting Philip
McGuire, Handgun Control, Inc.,
12 Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban: 1994-96, National Institute of Justice, March 1999

Copyright 2009, Guy Smith www.GunFacts.info All Rights Reserved