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The Failure of Banning So-Called Assault Weapons
Townhall.com ^ | October 10, 2014 | Daniel J. Mitchell

Posted on 10/10/2014 9:54:29 AM PDT by Kaslin

Whenever I’m asked about gun control and “assault weapons,” my first instinct is to steer people to the scholarly work of John Lott or the practical analysis of Larry Correia.

Unfortunately, some politicians in Washington haven’t gotten the message.

Here are excerpts from an article in the Pacific Standard, starting with a claim from Senator Feinstein that gun control works.

In the 10 years since the federal assault weapons ban expired, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) has kept trying to renew the law, which she authored. In a press release this month honoring the 20th anniversary of the ban, she wrote, “The evidence is clear: the ban worked.”

So let’s look at what the experts say.

…gun violence experts say the exact opposite. “There is no compelling evidence that it saved lives,” Duke University public policy experts Philip Cook and Kristin Goss wrote in their book The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know. A definitive study of the 1994 law—which prohibited the manufacture and sale of semiautomatic guns with “military-style features” such pistol grips or bayonet mounts as well as magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition—found no evidence that it had reduced overall gun crime or made shootings less lethal. “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence,” the Department of Justice-funded study concluded in 2004.

It turns out that Senator Feinstein based her argument on a discredited study. Indeed, the findings of that study have been repudiated by one of the authors!

The key statistic that Feinstein cited in her recent press release—that the ban “was responsible for a 6.7 percent decrease in total gun murders, holding all other factors equal”—was rejected by researchers a decade ago. …one of the authors of that study, Dr. Christopher Koper, a criminologist from George Mason University, told ProPublica that number was just a “tentative conclusion.” Koper was also the principal investigator on the 2004 study that, as he put it, “kind of overruled, based on new evidence, what the preliminary report had been in 1997.”

In other words, Senator Feinstein’s demagoguery-to-truth ratio on guns is akin the Obama’s demagoguery-to-truth ratio on tax havens.

Let’s close with some gun control humor. Back in March of last year I shared a satirical look at left-wing social science research involving Chicago.

Since Chicago is a case study of gun control, here are two additional images worth sharing. I don’t know if this is a real street sign, but it’s amusing.

And, technically, the people doing the shooting presumably were outside the city limits, so no laws were broken!

Here’s another one, highlighting the great success of gun control in Chicago.

If you want more gun control humor, you can find some good links by clicking here.

P.S. I’m very proud of the folks in Connecticut who are engaging in civil disobedience and defying the new gun control laws in the Nutmeg State.

P.P.S. Massachusetts passed Feinstein-type gun control policies. Needless to say, the results were not positive. No wonder front-line cops overwhelmingly reject gun control.

P.P.P.S. There are some sensible leftists on the issue of gun control, as you can see by clicking here and here.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: assaultweapon; assaultweaponsban; banglist; dianefeinstein; secondamendment
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1 posted on 10/10/2014 9:54:29 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Yeah, where I live you’re not supposed to shoot firearms.

But last night, I swear I heard “the sound of an AK 47”.
Must have been someone’s preferred weapon.


2 posted on 10/10/2014 9:55:51 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: MrB

The sound of freedom...................


3 posted on 10/10/2014 9:57:37 AM PDT by Red Badger (If you compromise with evil, you just get more evil..........................)
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To: Kaslin

Today I swung my front door wide open and placed my Colt AR15 rifle right in the doorway.

I left 6 loaded magazines beside it, then left it alone and went about my business.

While I was gone, the mailman delivered my mail, the neighbor boy across the street mowed the yard, a girl walked her dog down the street, and quite a few cars stopped at the stop sign near the front of my house.

After about an hour, I checked on the gun.

It was still sitting there, right where I had left it.

It hadn’t moved itself outside and it certainly hadn’t killed anyone, even with the numerous opportunities presented to do so.

In fact, it hadn’t even loaded itself.

Well you can imagine my surprise, with all the hype by Democrats and the Media about how guns kill people.
Either they’re wrong or I’m in possession of the laziest gun in the world.
Facts:
The United States is 3rd in murders throughout the World.

But if you take out just 4 cities: Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC and New Orleans, the United States is 4th from the bottom, in the entire world!
ALL 4 of these cities have the toughest Gun Control Laws in the U.S.
ALL 4 of these cities are controlled by Democrats.
It would be absurd to draw any conclusions from this data - right?

Obviously a coincidence...?
Well, I’m off to check on my forks and spoons. I hear they’re making people fat.


4 posted on 10/10/2014 9:59:00 AM PDT by drypowder
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To: Kaslin

They don’t care if these insipid pieces of legislation work or not. Just as long as they have them on the books they can push for amendments to make them even more “infringing”.


5 posted on 10/10/2014 10:00:05 AM PDT by rktman ("The only thing dumber than a brood hen is a New York democrat." Mother Abagail.)
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To: Kaslin
They won't stop, every gain they make is yet another increment on the total ban they actually want.

No matter what you give them today they will be back demanding more tomorrow.

6 posted on 10/10/2014 10:06:05 AM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: Kaslin

Gun Control:

Bring stock to shoulder, sight down through the crosshairs on the scope, hold your breath, snap off safety, and SQUEEZE the trigger, do not pull, with a steady motion. The gun will have a loud report, so ear protection is a good idea. Upon firing, the recoil will move the target out of your crosshairs. If a semi-automatic, the spent cartridge will eject, and the fresh round will be moved into the firing chamber, at which time the shooter may re-aim and again squeeze off a round.

If the weapon is a bolt-action or a lever-action, the action is moved manually, ejecting the spent shell and putting the next round in the chamber. Then re-aim and squeeze off.

Repeat until the SOB falls down.


7 posted on 10/10/2014 10:06:52 AM PDT by alloysteel (Most people become who they promised they would never be.)
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To: Kaslin

8 posted on 10/10/2014 10:07:13 AM PDT by PROCON (Ask Yourself This..Are You More Likely to be Infected or Beheaded Today Than You Were 6 Years Ago?)
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To: drypowder

“But if you take out just 4 cities: Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC and New Orleans, the United States is 4th from the bottom, in the entire world!
ALL 4 of these cities have the toughest Gun Control Laws in the U.S.
ALL 4 of these cities are controlled by Democrats.
It would be absurd to draw any conclusions from this data - right?

Given the demographics of those communities you could draw some conclusions but I’ll just leave it there...


9 posted on 10/10/2014 10:12:58 AM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: MrB

“last night, I swear I heard “the sound of an AK 47”.
Must have been someone’s preferred weapon.”

Well, I hear the AK is the preferred weapon when to use when you absolutely positively got to kill every mofo in the room.


10 posted on 10/10/2014 10:14:28 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: jsanders2001

What if you took out LA too. We might be the lowest in the world!


11 posted on 10/10/2014 10:14:30 AM PDT by jsanders2001
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To: drypowder

We get it that a firearm is an inanimate object with no supernatural powers, but leaving an AR-15 & magazines in your front doorway might have been too tempting for some of those passersby.

Unless of course they all assumed that the owner was hidden just behind the front door with a 12 gauge, ready to waste anyone who touched that AR.

J.S.


12 posted on 10/10/2014 10:14:30 AM PDT by elcid1970 ("I am now a radicalized infidel.")
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To: Kaslin

‘So let’s look at what the experts say.’

No need. These laws are clearly unconstitutional. Its not about gun safety, hunting or similar red herring arguments, its about clearly enumerated civil rights.


13 posted on 10/10/2014 10:20:53 AM PDT by 556x45
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To: Kaslin
No one needs a car that can go 100 miles an hour to drive to work or school or for any other legitimate reason. These assault cars should be banned. The only cars that should be legal to own are cars that cannot go over 55 miles per hour.

Yes, I am being facetious. It is the same argument that gun control advocates make. I probably should be careful, though, because some liberal is going to think it is a good idea.

14 posted on 10/10/2014 10:28:10 AM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: PROCON
Here is a gun control law that I can support.

Everyone who does not own a gun should be required by law to put up a sign in their yard that says "This is a gun free home."

This way, criminals will know which homes are safe to rob and the rest of us will not have to worry about having to shoot an intruder.

15 posted on 10/10/2014 10:31:02 AM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: jsanders2001

“ALL 4 of these cities have the toughest Gun Control Laws in the U.S.”

Not quite, the gun laws in MI, Detoilet included, are more pro-gun than those in Texas.


16 posted on 10/10/2014 10:31:02 AM PDT by Beagle8U (If illegal aliens are undocumented immigrants, then shoplifters are undocumented customers.)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER
"They won't stop, every gain they make is yet another increment on the total ban they actually want."

You're absolutely right SwampSniper. Their objective is a total ban on private ownership of all firearms. Their strategy is incrementalism. One sensible law at a time.

17 posted on 10/10/2014 10:35:21 AM PDT by VR-21 (Next Stop, Willoughby.)
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To: Kaslin

I want the Gov. Glendening trigger lock demo fail video...but it seems to have been wiped from existence.

Even the NRA does not have it.


18 posted on 10/10/2014 10:45:54 AM PDT by Lee'sGhost ("Just look at the flowers, Lizzie. Just look at the flowers.")
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To: Kaslin

You have to define assault weapon.


19 posted on 10/10/2014 10:46:33 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Kaslin

DiFi, who so loved the SanFran queer Harvey Milk, had her heart shattered as his bullet-ridden body lay in front of her.

So, since then, any gun owner, free man or criminal, has stirred such hatred within her, that she cannot see straight.

As to the CORRECT terminology of ‘firearm anatomy’, she cares not, and it is on record.

So, since she has abrogated her Oath of Office, and has attempted to rip freedom from every American, due to her hate, I declare a pox upon her!


20 posted on 10/10/2014 10:58:27 AM PDT by Terry L Smith
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