Assault Weapons Tied to Less than .012 Percent of Deaths in 2011

After announcing 23 executive orders to broaden gun control in America earlier this week, President Obama pressed Congress to institute an “assault weapons” ban to end incidents of violence in our nation.

The problem–“assault weapons” were tied to less than .012 percent of overall deaths in America in recent years (2011). And the 1994 “Assault Weapons Ban” (AWB) had a demonstrably small impact on overall crime in our country.

In fact, according to statistics compiled by criminology professors Chris Koper and Jeff Roth and put forth by John Lott, three years after the ban was instituted theses professors could find no “meaningful effect.”

Ten years after the ban was instituted, a colleague of Koper and Roth looked at the impact of the ban and wrote: “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence.”

What the current federal gun grabbers fail to take in into account is that concealed carry laws were expanding as the AWB was being implemented. Thus, much of the drop in crime was due not to the fact that grandpa no longer had an AR-15 in his closest but that grandpa was carrying a Glock 19 on his person.

With concealed carry, immediate retribution for criminals became a reality. 

Again–in 2011, less than .012 percent of the overall deaths in America were tied to “assault weapons,” and there was not even a ban in place. Years before that, 1994-2004, when the ban was in effect, it’s impact on gun violence was nil. 

The bottom line: There is something other than our safety and/or crime reduction behind the current push to ban “assault weapons.” And this “something,” whatever it is, will be detrimental to freedom.