About "Assault Weapons"
FACT: "Assault Weapons" are RARELY ever used in crimes -
Guns Used In Crimes:
Top 10 Most Frequently Traced Guns Used In Crimes In 1994 (BEFORE the "Assault Weapon" Ban):
1) Lorcin P25 (pistol)
2) Davis Ind. P380 (pistol)
3) Raven Arms MP25 (pistol)
4) Lorcin L25 (pistol)
5) Mossberg 500 (shotgun)
6) Phoenix Arms Raven (pistol)
7) Jennings J22 (pistol)
8) Ruger P89 (pistol)
9) Glock 17 (pistol)
10) Bryco 38 (pistol)
FACT: "Assault Weapons" are RARELY ever used to kill police officers -
Firearm Caliber and % Of LEOs Killed:
Calibers Most Often Used To Kill Police Officers In 1994 (BEFORE the "Assault Weapon" Ban):
1) .38 caliber handgun - 25.2%
2) .357 magnum handgun - 12.1%
3) 9mm handgun - 9.5%
5) 12 gauge shotgun - 7.4%
6) .22 caliber handgun - 5.4%
7) .22 caliber rifle - 4.4%
And according to the most recent detailed report, Dept. of Justice; Firearm Use by Offender...
FACT: "Assault weapons" are RARELY possessed by criminals during commission of a crime -
State and Federal prison inmates armed during the crime for which they are being incarcerated: (table 2)
* 9.9% of state and 7.3% of federal inmates possessed "single-shot" firearms.
* 7.9% of state and 7.7% of federal inmates possessed conventional semiautomatic firearm.
* 1.5% of state and 1.7% of federal inmates possessed military-style semi-auto or full-auto firearms.
FACT: "Assault weapons" are RARELY involved in ANY crimes -
State and Federal prison inmates who have ever possessed firearms during ANY crime: (table 2)
* 14.2% of state and 10.6% of federal inmates possessed "single-shot" firearm during ANY crime.
* 10.9% of state and 9.8% of federal inmates possessed conventional semiautomatic firearm during ANY crime.
* 2.5% of state and 2.3% of federal inmates possessed military-style semi-auto or full-auto firearms during ANY crime.
FACT: "Assault weapons" possessed by criminals during crimes are usually obtained ILLEGALLY -
Of State prison inmates who possessed military-style semi-auto or full-auto firearms in crimes for which they are incarcerated: (table 10)
* 48.5% obtained them through illegal sources (theft, drug dealer, black market, etc.)
* 25.2% obtained them from family or friend.
* 19.3% obtained them from retail sale.
* 1.9% obtained them from gun shows.
Also from the same source DOJ source:
FACT: "Assault weapons" that are possessed during a crime are the LEAST LIKELY type of firearm to be actually discharged during the crime.
FACT: "Assault weapons" that are possessed during a crime are the LEAST LIKELY type of firearm to be used to injure the victim.
FACT: "Assault weapons" that are possessed during a crime are the LEAST LIKELY type of firearm to be used to kill the victim.
"ASSAULT WEAPONS" HAVE NEVER BEEN A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN GUN-CRIMES.
FACT: The "Assault Weapon" Ban Did NOT Reduce The Number Of Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty -
Six years prior to "Assault Weapon" Ban:
Year....Total LEOs Killed...By Handguns...By Other Guns...By Other Methods
1988..................78.......................63......................13....................2
1989..................66.......................40......................17....................9
1990..................66.......................48.......................9....................9
1991..................71.......................50......................18....................3
1992..................64.......................44......................11....................9
1993..................70.......................50......................17....................3
TOTALS...........415......................295......................85...................35
Six years after "Assault Weapon" Ban:
Year....Total LEOs Killed...By Handguns...By Other Guns...By Other Methods
1995..................74.......................43......................19...................12
1996..................61.......................50.......................7....................4
1997..................70.......................49......................18....................3
1998..................61.......................40......................18....................3
1999..................42.......................25......................16....................1
2000..................51.......................33......................14....................4
TOTALS...........355......................240......................92...................26
CHANGE......(-14%).................(-19%)................(+8%)...........(-26%)
Source: US Dept. Justice, Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed
* The number of police killed by non-handgun firearms (which includes "assault weapons") has NOT decreased since the passing of the "assault weapon" ban in 1994 but in fact has INCREASED since the passage of the AWB. And this comes despite the decrease in the number of LEOs killed by all other means INCLUDING handguns.
THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THE "ASSAULT WEAPON" BAN REDUCED THE NUMBER OF LEOs KILLED. PERIOD.
FACT: Studies demonstrated that the "Assault Weapon" ban "FAILED" to reduce gun-murders:
From The 1997 "Impact Evaluation" of the "Assault Weapon" Ban -
"We were unable to detect any reduction to date in two types of gun murders that are thought to be closely associated with assault weapons, those with multiple victims in a single incident and those producing multiple bullet wounds per victim. We did find a reduction in killings of police officers since mid-1995. However, the available data are partial and preliminary, and the trends may have been influenced by law enforcement agency policies regarding bullet-proof vests."
5.2.3. Assault Weapons and Crime -
"...assault weapons do not appear to be used disproportionately in violent crime relative to other guns" "Overall, assault weapons accounted for about 1% of guns associated with homicides, aggravated assaults, and robberies" and "only 2% of guns associated with drug crimes were assault weapons."
5.2.4. Unbanned Handguns Capable of Accepting Large-capacity Magazines -
"The ban on large-capacity magazines does not seem to have discouraged the use of these guns."
6.2.1. Trends in Multiple-Victim Gun Homicides -
"[Studies] failed to produce any evidence that the ban reduced the number of victims per gun homicide incident."
6.3.4. Conclusions -
"[Studies] failed to produce evidence of a post-ban reduction in the average number of gunshot wounds per case or in the proportion of cases involving multiple wounds."
6.4.2. Assault Weapons and Homicides of Police Officers -
"In sum, police officers are rarely murdered with assault weapons."
From The 1999 "Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban"Report To Congress -
"the weapons ["assault weapons] banned by this legislation were used only rarely in gun crimes before the ban"
"The ban has failed to reduce the average number of victims per gun murder incident or multiple gunshot wound victims."
"...the banned guns are used in only a small fraction of gun crimes; even before the ban, most of them rarely turned up in law enforcement agencies' requests... to trace the sales histories of guns recovered in criminal investigations."
"The ban's short-term impact on gun violence has been uncertain"
From The FINAL June 2004 "Updated Assessment On The Federal Assault Weapon Ban" Report To Congress -
"AWs [Assault weapons] were used in only a small fraction of gun crimes prior to the ban"
"...we cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation's recent drop in gun violence."
"...there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence... as we might have expected had the ban reduced crimes committed with AWs (assault weapons) and LCMs (large-capacity magazines)."
"Thus, it is premature to make definitive assessments of the ban's impact on gun violence."
THE DEFINITIVE CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS ON THE "ASSAULT WEAPON" ALL BAN SHOWED THAT IT "FAILED" TO REDUCE GUN-MURDERS.
FACT: "Assault weapons" are NOT "machine guns".
They are "semi-automatic" meaning one pull of the trigger=one bullet discharged while the next bullet is then chambered ready for the next trigger pull. "Assault weapons" are not full-auto firearms and they do NOT "spray" bullets with a single pull of the trigger.
"ASSAULT WEAPONS" ARE NOT MACHINE-GUNS.
FACT: The "Assault weapon" Ban had NOTHING to do with silencers.
One of the cosmetic features addressed by the "Assault Weapon" Ban included flash-suppressors which reduce the bright muzzle-glare ONLY in the eyes of the shooter in low-light conditions. Flash-suppressors do NOT "hide" the bright flash from any other observer and do NOT "silence" the very loud report of the gunshot sound.
"FLASH-SUPPRESSORS" ARE NOT "SILENCERS" AND DO NOT MAKE THE SHOOTER "INVISIBLE" AT NIGHT.
FACT: The Columbine-Killers did not violate any provision of "Assault Weapon" ban.
The firearms used in Columbine included two shotguns (like those used for duck hunting), a pistol and a legally-produced TEC-9 "assault weapon". The AWB did not stop those two UNDERAGE killers from illegally acquiring them or illegally bringing them to school or illegally murdering 13 people.
THE "ASSAULT WEAPON" BAN DID NOT TAKE GUNS OUT OF THE HANDS OF CRIMINALS.
FACT: The "Assault Weapon" Ban did NOT actually ban "assault weapons"
The ban only prohibited the NEW PRODUCTION of certain firearms based on cosmetic features. There were hundreds of thousands of "assault weapons" legally owned, bought and sold BEFORE the ban was implemented and, DESPITE the overall drop in crime rates during the ban, there were STILL hundreds of thousands of "assault weapons" legally owned, bought and sold during the 10 years of the ban's existance.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF EXISTING "UZIs, AR-15s AND AK-47s" WERE COMPLETELY LEGAL TO OWN, BUY AND SELL FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION OF THE FEDERAL "ASSAULT WEAPON BAN" - AND YET CRIME RATES STILL DECREASED.
FACT: The 2nd Amendment is NOT about "duck hunting".
Military-style firearms (like "assault weapons") are specifically protected by the 2nd Amendment according to the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in U.S. v. Miller (1939) and Lewis v. U.S. (1980).
* In the Miller decision the Supreme Court stated, "In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession of [a particular gun] has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument".
* In the Lewis decision, the Supreme Court stated, "the Second Amendment guarantees no right to keep and bear a firearm that does not have 'some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia'".
SO ACCORDING TO THE SUPREME COURT, MILITARY-STYLE FIREARMS ARE EXACTLY THE TYPE OF FIREARMS THAT ARE PROTECTED BY THE 2ND AMENDMENT.
FACT: Nobody NEEDS to infringe on the 2nd Amendment in order to reduce crime.
Our RIGHTS do not ebb and flow or come and go with the annual crime reports.
Our RIGHTS do not depend upon what today's gangbangers or psychopaths decide to do to get their next thrill or rage out.
Our RIGHTS are not contingent upon, qualified by nor based on what CRIMINALS use to commit crimes!
Our RIGHTS are derived from natural law, specifically protected by the Constitution and are NOT dependant on the findings in any crime studies!!!
Banning the possession of "assault weapons" because of some crime statistics is like banning the possession of sports cars because of drunk driving deaths or like banning the possession of the boxcutters because of 9-11.
OUR RIGHTS ARE NOT PREDICATED ON THE MOST RECENT CRIME STATISTICS!
It's Not Just A Gun...
It's My "HOMELAND DEFENSE RIFLE"!!