DanMar757
Member
So, as a Virginia resident, I was researching data to use in my arguments against an assault weapon (or magazine capacity) ban that have already been pre-filed in the Virginia state legislature when I came across some interesting and disproportionate numbers concerning the use of rifles in murders, private citizen justifiable homicides and law enforcement officer justifiable homicides. I have long felt that the left's insistence that no one should own an "assault weapon" or "weapon of war" was absurd, and highlighting that feeling was the frequent visual on the evening news of law enforcement officers showing up en masse for the latest criminal stand-off, each toting an AR-15 with a 30 round magazine inserted and several more on their tactical vest. I firmly believe that law enforcement officers understand the utility of these types of weapons and consider them indispensable tools in dangerous situations. As part of my research, I was perusing the FBI UCR for 2018 to determine the number of murders by rifle as compared to the total number of murders in Virginia (8 of 391 or 2%) and nationwide (297 of 14,123 or 2.1%) when I came across the nationwide data for justifiable homicide by private citizen using a rifle (3 of 353 or 0.8%) and justifiable homicide by law enforcement officer using a rifle (54 of 410 or 13%).
To me, this data supports that AR-15 like weapons (as a smaller sub-set of rifles) are rarely used in murders, but are heavily relied upon by law enforcement officers as an effective weapon to carry into a dangerous situation, thus supporting the argument that banning these types of weapons will do little to affect crime but will unfairly restrict law abiding citizens from choosing an effective self defense weapon.
I am interested in your opinions (especially any current or former LEO's) on how I can best use this information in upcoming arguments with local and state government officials against an Assault Weapon ban.
Mods, feel free to move this to another area if appropriate.
To me, this data supports that AR-15 like weapons (as a smaller sub-set of rifles) are rarely used in murders, but are heavily relied upon by law enforcement officers as an effective weapon to carry into a dangerous situation, thus supporting the argument that banning these types of weapons will do little to affect crime but will unfairly restrict law abiding citizens from choosing an effective self defense weapon.
I am interested in your opinions (especially any current or former LEO's) on how I can best use this information in upcoming arguments with local and state government officials against an Assault Weapon ban.
Mods, feel free to move this to another area if appropriate.