Gun Facts

From our friends over at www.gunfacts.info

ASSAULT WEAPONS

“Assault weapon” is an invented term. In the firearm lexicon, there is no such thing as an
“assault weapon”. The closest relative is the “assault rifle”, which is a machine gun or
“select fire” rifle that fires rifle cartridges.32 In most cases, “assault weapons” are
functionally identical to hunting rifles, though cosmetically similar to military guns.

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”.33 In the first year since the
ban was lifted, murders declined 3.6%, and violent crime 1.7%.34

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. In
many major urban areas (San Antonio, Mobile, Nashville, etc.) and some entire states (Maryland,
New Jersey, etc.) the rate is less than 0.1%35

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.36

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.”37

For the rest of the nation:
• Between 1980 and 1994, only 2% of confiscated guns were "assault weapons".38
• Just under 2% of criminals that commit violent crimes used “assault weapons”.39

32 Department of Defense Small Arms Identification and Operations Guide
33 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1994
34 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, Preliminary Summary, 2004
35 Gary Kleck, “Targeting Guns”, 1997, compilation of 48 metropolitan police departments from 1980-1994
36 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1993
37 S.C. Helsley, Assistant Director DOJ Investigation and Enforcement Branch, California, October 31, 1988
38 Gary Kleck, “Targeting Guns”, 1997, compilation of 48 metropolitan police departments from 1980-1994
39 Gary Kleck, “Targeting Guns”, 1997, calculated from Bureau of Justice Statistics, assault weapon recovery rates

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