Please Tell Me What You Think About It
In the late 1980′s and early 1990′s, the frequency of crimes involving firearms became a very public issue. The attempted assassination of President Reagan and critical wounding of numerous police officers in a highly publicized shootout with bank robbers in California raised the issue of the need to ban certain types of weapons. For nearly a decade, the need for an assault weapons ban was a hotly debated subject. In 1994, Congress succumbed to public pressure and passed the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. Eventually, the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban was proven to be an impotent piece of legislation due to it’s ineffectiveness in banning true assault weapons, and its near uselessness as a crime prevention tool.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Assault Weapons and other semiautomatic firearms were involved in a number of highly publicized mass murder incidents that raised public concern about the accessibility of high powered, military-style weaponry. Let’s just take a moment and look at what an assault rifle is according to the law. The law classifies an assault weapon as "a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least two of the following features: 1. a folding or telescoping stock; 2. a pistol grip; 3. bayonet lugs; 4. a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor; and 5. a grenade launcher." While the frequency of "drive-by bayonetings" dropped dramatically, the use of true assault weapons in crime did not. Indeed, Assault Weapons were involved in 10 %, of 15 mass shooting incidents occurring between 1984 and 1993, but when looking at the nation’s gun crime problem more broadly, AWs were used in only a minority of gun crimes prior to the 1994 federal ban,. Numerous studies have examined the use of AWs in crime prior to the federal ban. According to these accounts, AWs typically accounted for up to 8% of guns used in crime, similarly, the most common AWs prohibited by the 1994 federal ban accounted for between 1% and 6% of guns used in crime according to the F.B.I. One must ponder, why would legislatures expend so much energy on outlawing guns which, except for appearances, are no more dangerous than many other guns? The answer is that most of the legislators who wrote and voted for the gun bans have never actually studied the functional characteristics of "assault weapons." Gun bans are not drafted by technical experts who compare guns at a firing range. Instead, the ban was derived by flipping through a picture book of guns, and picking out the guns which looked most menacing. When one of the sponsors of the ban was challenged about what an "assault weapon" really was, the Senator replied that he knew one when he saw one.
Although AWs are used in a small percentage of gun crimes, some have argued that AWs are more likely to be used in crime than other guns, i.e., that AWs are more attractive to criminal than lawful gun users due to the weapons’ military-style features and their particularly large ammunition magazines. Yet the statistics tell otherwise. Even so, most survey evidence on the actual use of AWs suggests that offenders rarely use AWs in crime. In a 1991 national survey of adult state prisoners, 8% of the inmates reported possessing a “military-type” firearm at some point in the past. Similarly, while 10% of adult inmates and 5% of juvenile inmates in a Virginia survey reported having owned an AR, none of the adult inmates and only 1% of the juvenile inmates reported having carried them at crime scenes. In contrast, 4% to 8% of inmates surveyed in eight jails across rural and urban areas of Illinois and Iowa reported having used an Aw in committing crimes. On similar note, in 2005 the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a report that noted the top 10 firearms most frequently used in crimes, Interestingly enough, none of the firearms reported on the list were ever classified as an assault weapon, moreover, none of the weapons listed ever carried more than seven rounds .The relative rarity of AW use amongst criminals can be attributed to a number of factors. Many AWs are long guns, which are used in crime much less often than handguns. Also, AWs are more expensive and more difficult to conceal than the types of handguns that are used most frequently used by criminals. Despite their "evil" appearance, so-called "assault weapons" are no more dangerous than many non-semiautomatics. According to empirical evidence and police experience, the guns are not the weapons of choice of drug dealers or other criminals. Even if these guns played a significant role in violent crime, sociological evidence suggests that "assault weapon" legislation would not reduce the criminal misuse.
Furthermore, with all the controversy surrounding criminals and assault weapons, one must imagine if assault weapons really serve a purpose in modern day society. During the 1992 Los Angeles riots the Ak-47 assa
assault rifle was used successfully by Korean shopkeepers to fend off looters during the three days of civil unrest. Similarly, In the wake of hurricane katrina, many stranded survivors used the AR-15 assault rifle to protect themselves from violent looters and roaming bands of gangs. The simlicity and rugged reliability of the rifles mentioned above contributed to the success of these lawful citizens righteous preservation of life,liberty and property. Supporters of "assault weapon" legislation assert that they are not impinging on the right to bear arms because "assault weapons" are not "sporting guns." In fact, many "assault weapons" are well-suited for target shooting and other sports. The fact that some "assault weapons" are related in design history to military firearms does not mean that they are unsuitable for field sports. After all, firearms styled after military weapons have been the favorites of sportsmen throughout the United States. For competitive target-shooting, the m
. In fact, the Colt AR-15 and its ancestors, loaded with 20 or 30 round magazines, have long been required weapons in some Civilian Marksmanship competitions. Most of the other politically incorrect rifles outlawed by the gun bans are usable in other Civilian Marksmanship events, and are highly prized competition target guns. Before the "assault weapon" controversy erupted, the firearms experts with the California Department of Justice had privately warned that "assault weapon" legislation would devastate the world of target competition.
When the federal assault-weapons ban expired in September 2003, its fans claimed that gun crimes and police killings would surge dramatically. Sarah Brady, one of the nation’s leading gun-control advocates, warned, "Our streets are going to be filled with AK-47s and Uzis. Well, more than 5 years have gone by and the only casualty has been gun-controllers’ credibility. Letting the law expire only showed its uselessness. In fact, the FBI announced last
Share This
