ASSAULT WEAPONS
“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.”
• “I surveyed the firearms used in violent crimes…assault-type firearms were the least of our worries.”6
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 Gun Facts Version 5.1 Page 1
Copyright 2009, Guy Smith www.GunFacts.info All Rights Reserved
For the rest of the nation:
“No one should have any illusions about what was accomplished (by the ban). Assault weapons play a part in only a
• Between 1980 and 1994, only 2% of confiscated guns were “assault weapons.”7
small percentage
• Just under 2% of criminals that commit violent crimes used “assault weapons.” of crime. The provision is mainly symbolic; its virtue will be if it turns out to be, as hoped, a stepping stone to broader gun control.”
8
Fact: Only 1.4% of recovered crime weapons are models covered under the 1994 “assault weapons” ban.
Washington Post editorial
9
September 15, 1994
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”1