A study in the November 2013 issue of Applied Economic Letters shows that gun-related “murder rates were 19.3 percent higher when the Federal [‘assault weapons’] ban (AWB) was in effect.”
The Federal AWB went into effect in 1994 and expired in 2004.
The study was conducted by Quinnipiac University’s Mark Gius, who noted that the Federal AWB included a “[prohibition against] large capacity magazines that held more than 10 rounds of ammunition.”
A renewal of the Federal AWB and a ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition have been prominent talking points among Democrats since the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary. However, Gius’s study shows that both of these things combined at the federal level did not result in a lower murder rate. Instead, gun-related murder rates increased significantly while the ban was in effect.
The study goes beyond “assault weapons” to suggest that restrictive concealed carry laws also result in a higher gun-related murder rate than do less restrictive concealed carry laws. According to the study, “states with more restrictive [concealed carry] laws had gun-related murder rates that were 10 percent higher.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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