2004: DOJ led study finds Federal ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban Did Not Reduce Crime

In 2004, The Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) completed a study that found that the 1994 Assault Rifle Ban did basically nothing to deter crime.

Breitbart:

As the federal “assault weapons” ban was about to expire in 2004, the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) reported that the ban could not be credited with any reduction in crime.

The Washington Times quoted University of Pennsylvania professor Christopher Koper, author of the NIJ report, saying, “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence.”

The NIJ report continued, “The ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”

The report put matters into perspective by pointing out that “assault weapons” were “rarely used in gun crimes even before the ban.” In other words, “assault weapons” were not a weapon of choice before the ban, so why would banning them be expected to contribute to a drop in crime?

On January 18, 2013, Breitbart News reported that “assault weapons” were tied to less than .012 recent of U.S deaths in 2011.” This goes to the point of the NIJ study, that “assault weapons” were “rarely used” in crime to begin with. The guns are bulky and difficult to conceal, making them a bad choice for criminals seeking to avoid detection.

GQ magazine made a similar point in response to Hillary Clinton’s “assault weapons” ban campaign during the presidential election.

They reported:

After every high-profile shooting, Democrats like Hillary Clinton call for a ban on “assault weapons,” the military-style rifles that have been dubbed the weapon of choice for mass shooters. There’s a problem with this popular liberal idea: banning these guns would not do much to save American lives. Only 3.6 percent of America’s gun murders are committed with any kind of rifle, according to FBI data. The majority of gun murders are committed with handguns.

GQ added, “The Democrat staffers who wrote the now-expired 1994 federal assault weapon ban knew it was a largely symbolic policy.”

Once again the facts don’t support the left’s anti-gun policies. Banning Assualt Rifles did nothing and the same will be done if they try and ban Semi-Automatic Rifles. As we reported more people have been killed by fist and feet than Rifles of any kind. We also found out that according to the FBI’s definition of a Mass Shooting 98% of them happened in a Gun Free Zone.