ASSAULT WEAPONS
“Assault weapon” is an invented term. In the firearm lexicon, there is no such thing as an
“assault weapon.”357 The closest relative is the “assault rifle,” which is a machine gun or
“select fire” rifle that fires rifle cartridges.358 In most cases so-called “assault weapons”
are cosmetically similar to military guns but are functionally identical to and less powerful than hunting rifles.
Myth: Assault weapons are a serious problem in the U.S.
Fact: In 1994, before the Federal “assault weapons ban,” you were eleven (11) times more likely
to be beaten to death than to be killed by an “assault weapon.”359
Fact: In the first year after the ban was lifted, murders declined 3.6%, and violent crime 1.7%.360
Fact: Nationally, “assault weapons” were used in 1.4% of crimes involving firearms and 0.25% of all violent crime before the enactment of any national or state “assault weapons” ban. The rate is less than 0.1% In many major urban areas (San Antonio, Mobile, Nashville, etc.) as well as
some some entire states (Maryland, New Jersey, etc.).361
Fact: Even weapons misclassified as “assault weapons” (common in the former Federal and
California “assault weapons” confiscations) are used in less than 1% of all homicides.362
Fact: Police reports show that “assault weapons” are a non-problem: For California:
• Los Angeles: In 1998, of 538 documented gun incidents, only one (0.2%) involved an “assault weapon.”
• San Francisco: In 1998, only 2.2% of confiscated weapons were “assault weapons.”
• San Diego: Between 1988 and 1990, only 0.3% of confiscated weapons were “assault
weapons.”
• “I surveyed the firearms used in violent crimes...assault-type firearms were the least
of our worries.”363
357 It is worth noting that there are numerous different ‘legal’ definitions of “assault weapons”. A report from the Legal Community Against Violence showed no fewer than eight jurisdictions, anywhere from 19 to 75 banned firearms, six differing generic classification schemes and several legal systems for banning more firearms without specific legislative action. In other words, an “assault weapon” is whatever a politician deems it to be.
358 Small Arms Identification and Operations Guide, U.S. Department of Defense. The exact statement from their manual is “short, compact, select-fire weapons that fires a cartridge intermediate in power between submachine gun and rifle cartridges.”
359 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1994
360 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, Preliminary Summary, 2004
361 Targeting Guns, Gary Kleck, Aldine Transaction, 1997, compilation of 48 metropolitan police departments from 1980-1994
362 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1993
363 S.C. Helsley, Assistant Director DOJ Investigation and Enforcement Branch, California, October 31, 1988
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