The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) states:
Some assault weapon features, like pistol grips, second handgrips, or barrel shrouds, make the gun easier to hold with two hands. This allows the shooter to spray an area with bullets without taking careful aim, and to control the gun without getting burned as the barrel heats up.
And this happens how often? Not nearly as often as the anti-rights establishment would lead you to believe. There is no recent data on how often 'assault weapons' are used in crimes but looking at Table 20 of the 2010 FBI Uniform Crime Report, we see that in 2010, 358 homicides were committed with rifles, (since most 'assault weapons' are rifles, this is the number we'll use). This represents about 2.75% of all murders.
Others, like detachable magazines, make it easier to maintain a high rate of fire for an extended period of time. Still others, like flash suppressors, allow the shooter to conceal his position. These features, most of which were specifically designed for the military, are unnecessary for hunting or target shooting.
I find it very difficult to believe that someone 'spray(ing) an area with bullets' is really trying to conceal their position.
The Brady center, in a 2008 report claims:
For ten years, from 1994-2004, federal law banned these weapons of war. Although this now-expired law was limited in scope, and was circumvented by many gun manufacturers, it reduced the use of assault weapons in crime. The experience suggests that a stronger, more comprehensive law would enhance public safety even more.
Of course, they cite no external data to back up their claim, however, looking back at the FBI data we see that in 2004, 2.79% of murders involved a rifle and remained fairly constant throughout the years. Statistical data from the FBI shows that the last six years of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (from 1999 to 2004) the murder rate decreased 3.5%, however the six years following the ban (2005 to 2010), the murder rate has decreased 14.28%. Clearly the Assault Weapons Ban had no effect on public safety.
The Violence Policy Center, in an effort to, well, I'm not sure what they wanted to accomplish with this report, but they clearly show that the Assault Weapons Ban did nothing to reduce violence:
In 1995, the first full year in which the ban was implemented, police continued to be victims of assault weapons. Approximately one in 10 of the 74 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 1995 was slain with a banned assault weapon.
So let's see, there's a ban on assault weapons, yet criminals were still using assault weapons to commit crimes and kill Peace Officers. And...
...it is clear that law enforcement personnel continue to be killed by assault weapons. For example, on February 20, 2003, in Alexandria, Louisiana, two police officers were killed in an ambush with an AK-47-type assault rifle. Anthony Molette, age 25, had a long criminal history, including a charge of attempted first-degree murder. The day before the murders, Molette opened fire on an officer in his patrol car. The officer was not hurt, but 18 to 20 rounds were fired into the vehicle. Molette bragged to his friends about the shooting, prompting Alexandria police to search for him. When officers arrived at Molette's residence to serve a warrant, Molette opened fire, fatally wounding Officers Charles Ezernack, age 26, and Jeremy "Jay" Carruth, age 29. Molette was shot and killed as he charged two other police officers.
Another example of thugs doing what thugs do. It was already against the law for Molette to possess a firearm, any firearm, but that didn't stop him. It was already against the law to shoot at a police car, but that didn't stop him. It was already against the law to commit murder, but that didn't stop the shooter either. What other laws would have stopped the killer from killing? Nothing short of him being locked up in prison. I must state it again, we don't need more gun control laws, we need more criminal control laws.
CSGV goes on to prove that the federal AWB was ineffective:
Some gun companies made inconsequential design changes (like moving a screw or replacing a flash suppressor with a "muzzle brake") and gave the gun a new name. The new name got the gun off of the prohibited list, and the minor change arguably put it out of reach of the law's "copies or duplicates" language. For example, the banned TEC-9 became the legal AB-10.
What's the major difference between the TEC-9 and the AB-10? The TEC-9 had a threaded barrel and the AB-10 did not. While many anti-rights representatives call this a 'loophole', the new design was made for the pistol to become AWB compliant.
Considering all the above information, we can clearly see that the assault weapons ban did nothing to promote public safety, nor would a future assault weapons ban.
One of the most sweeping gun control laws was the Gun Control Act of 1968, and it too was a failure at reducing crime. In 1967, the murder rate was 6.2 and the violent crime rate was 253.2, after the law's enactment in 1968, the murder rate climbed to 10.2 in 1980 and the violent crime rate continued to rise until 1991 when it peaked at 758.2. In 2010 the murder rate had fallen to 4.8 and the violent crime rate fell to 403.6.
One more fact. Assuming that all rifles used in murders were assault rifles, assault rifles were used in 2.75% of all murders, knives on the other hand, were used in 13.11% of all murders. I think maybe we need some knife control laws. Maybe we need some hands, fists and feet control laws considering hands, fists and feet were used in 5.7% of all murders.
All of the gun control laws that anyone can think of will never stop evil people that are hell bent on killing.
Robert Lee Yates, Jr. didn't need an assault rifle to kill 16 women.
Nathaniel White didn't need a firearm at all to kill his six victims.
Carl Eugene Watts, admitted to killing 80 women, all without a firearm.
Gerald Eugene Stano confessed to killing 41 women. He didn't go an rampage with an assault weapon, either.
Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people and injured over 800 with a truck and a homemade bomb.
The list goes on and on and like I say, thugs are gonna do what thugs do. What do you think?
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