g5000
Diamond Member
- Nov 26, 2011
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Let's not get dragged down into a stupid argument of what an "assault weapon" is. An assault weapon is whatever Congress decides it is, and to argue about how stupid it is they include one kind of gun and not another is a waste of time.
In 1994, Congress passed an AWB: Text of H.R. 4296 (103rd): Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (Placed on Calendar in the Senate version) - GovTrack.us
The AWB also banned large capacity magazines, though existing large capacity magazines were grandfathered. You could still buy and sell grandfathered magazines.
It is my opinion that the AWB had a negligible impact on the gun homicide rate in America.
The 1994 AWB expired in 2004.
I imagine any future AWB will have a longer list of "assault weapons", and will police large capacity magazines more thoroughly.
Now let's get down to the meat and potatoes of why this is an exercise in futility.
First and foremost, 99 percent of all gun homicides do not involve an assault weapon.
Assault weapon shootings make splashy headlines. Lots of blood and sadness.
The press tries to connect every mass shooting to assault weapons. Every time there is a mass shooting involving an assault weapon, the following days are filled with headlines screaming about how many mass shootings per week we are suffering, with the unspoken but deliberate implication these mass shootings all involve assault weapons.
The fact is, the vast majority of mass shootings do NOT involve an assault weapons ban.
www.statista.com
Handguns are the most common weapon type used in mass shootings in the United States, with a total of 151 different handguns being used in 103 incidents between 1982 and November 2022. These figures are calculated from a total of 137 reported cases over this period, meaning handguns are involved in about 75 percent of mass shootings.
Here is the definition of a mass shooting: Mass shooting | Definition, Statistics, Weapons, & Locations
mass shooting, also called active shooter incident, as defined by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an event in which one or more individuals are “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. Implicit in this definition is the shooter’s use of a firearm.” The FBI has not set a minimum number of casualties to qualify an event as a mass shooting, but U.S. statute (the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012) defines a “mass killing” as “3 or more killings in a single incident.”
It is my opinion an Assault Weapons Ban is theater for the rubes which has little to no effect on the gun violence problem in the United States.
Fire away!
In 1994, Congress passed an AWB: Text of H.R. 4296 (103rd): Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (Placed on Calendar in the Senate version) - GovTrack.us
The AWB also banned large capacity magazines, though existing large capacity magazines were grandfathered. You could still buy and sell grandfathered magazines.
It is my opinion that the AWB had a negligible impact on the gun homicide rate in America.
The 1994 AWB expired in 2004.
I imagine any future AWB will have a longer list of "assault weapons", and will police large capacity magazines more thoroughly.
Now let's get down to the meat and potatoes of why this is an exercise in futility.
First and foremost, 99 percent of all gun homicides do not involve an assault weapon.
Assault weapon shootings make splashy headlines. Lots of blood and sadness.
The press tries to connect every mass shooting to assault weapons. Every time there is a mass shooting involving an assault weapon, the following days are filled with headlines screaming about how many mass shootings per week we are suffering, with the unspoken but deliberate implication these mass shootings all involve assault weapons.
The fact is, the vast majority of mass shootings do NOT involve an assault weapons ban.
Guns used in mass shootings U.S. 2024 | Statista
Handguns are the most common weapons used in mass shootings in the United States. Other types of guns used in mass shootings include rifles and shotguns.
www.statista.com
Handguns are the most common weapon type used in mass shootings in the United States, with a total of 151 different handguns being used in 103 incidents between 1982 and November 2022. These figures are calculated from a total of 137 reported cases over this period, meaning handguns are involved in about 75 percent of mass shootings.
Here is the definition of a mass shooting: Mass shooting | Definition, Statistics, Weapons, & Locations
mass shooting, also called active shooter incident, as defined by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an event in which one or more individuals are “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. Implicit in this definition is the shooter’s use of a firearm.” The FBI has not set a minimum number of casualties to qualify an event as a mass shooting, but U.S. statute (the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012) defines a “mass killing” as “3 or more killings in a single incident.”
It is my opinion an Assault Weapons Ban is theater for the rubes which has little to no effect on the gun violence problem in the United States.
Fire away!
