Gun Laws: What are the Facts ?
02-21-18
Deadly assault weapons were once banned from the United States when a federal law banned such weapons in the year 1994. However, the 1994 law came with a “sunset provision” meaning the law expired after a certain amount of time - which was 10 years - unless further action is taken to extend the law. But extending the ban past ten years did not occur. A new law would have to be re-enacted to ban assault weapons again on the national level.The ten-year ban did, however, give some idea what it can be like without assault weapons in the environment - that is – with laws preventing a person from manufacturing, transferring, or possessing an automatic or semi-automatic assault weapon.
Below are the data showing what happened before the 1994-2004 ban, the time during this ten-year ban, and the time after:
Gun Massacres (involving 6 or more deaths) Before, During, and After a Federal Ban on Assault Weapons
(Source: Louis Klarevas via The Washington Post)
It is plain to see that compared to a previous ten-year period, the banning of assault weapons caused a decline in deaths from gun massacres by 43%. But after the ban ended in 2004, the number of deaths increased to 239%. These are the facts based on a collection of data – and the facts don’t lie. Any society troubled by gun problems would do well to make reference to the above. If there is any doubt about how to construct a law – try the facts.
(Filed under Law, R Lang & Assoc)
