AWB: Interesting, but pointless?

[Beren]

I've been peeking at the FBI's UCR data for 1995 and 2002. What amazed me is that we /have/ seen a distinct drop in the number of firearm deaths since 1995. What further amazed me is that the percentage of rifles and shotguns used in murders has also remained within 2% of their 1995 levels. I couldn't find UCR data for 1994, but I didn't look hard, either. Anyone have a link for the 1994 UCR?

My point is this: the AWB is marketed as something that has controlled 'assault rifles.' Yet, the total percentage of rifles known to be used in murders has GONE UP slightly, not down, between 1995 and 2002.

In murders where the general class of firearm was known (rifle, shotgun, pistol), in 1995 4.18% of murders were committed using rifles. In 2002, the percentage was 5.90%.

By Feinstein standards, I think we just need to ban all rifles, the AWB isn't working!

 

[DMK]

Rifles and shotguns don't get used in a lot of crime because they aren't that concealable. The NFA covers that issue a lot better than the AWB does. Anyway, the facts are irrelevent, the AWB is all about smoke and mirrors.

 

[Valkman]

Facts don't matter to Feinstein and the rest - never have. Of course criminals don't routinely use AR's and AK's in crimes, but in CA all it took was one wacko in a school yard in Stockton to start the AWB. It's all about the chillen, you know.

 

[another okie]

If you define an assault weapon by certain meaningless and largely aesthetic critieria and then ban them, you will, no surprise, probably find fewer of them around. That doesn't mean anyone is safer, since weapons of identical functionality can still be purchased. But it does mean you can trot out a statistic that says fewer assault weapons are around. Remember when you hear that statistic that they are defining assault weapon the same way as the law. It's sort of as if you defined an assault weapon as having a pink stock, banned it, discovered there were fewer weapons with pink stocks, and announced you had made the world safer.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

in 1995 4.18% of murders were committed using rifles. In 2002, the percentage was 5.90%.

That is a 41% increase in murder committed with rifles.

 

[Mark Tyson]

The ever-changing definition of assault weapons adopted by the VPC and other totalitarian cheerleaders makes it impossible to prove anything with statistics ... or possible to prove anything you like.

 

[idd]

Of course criminals don't routinely use AR's and AK's in crimes, but in CA all it took was one wacko in a school yard in Stockton to start the AWB.

The shooter was Patrick Purdy, who should have been taken off the street long before he had a chance to open fire that fateful day of 17 January 1989.

"Purdy had a long police record for offenses such as robbery, receiving stolen property, and sale of illegal weapons. He even vandalized his mother's car when she refused to give him money to buy drugs. But instead of being sent to jail for his crimes, he always slipped through the cracks of the system, avoided a felony conviction, and wound up back on the street.
"In addition, Purdy, a mildly retarded alcoholic, had a record of mental disease for which he should have been committed and treated. In April 1987, he was arrested for firing a pistol at trees near Lake Tahoe. He told the sheriff's deputy that he had a duty of 'overthrow the suppressor.' After a suicide attempt in jail, he was described in mental health report as 'a danger to himself and others.' "
Stockton Shooting Disprove Case for Gun Control

 

[Tamara]

The AWB wasn't intended to reduce crime; it was intended to create new criminals.

 

[GSB]

My point is this: the AWB is marketed as something that has controlled 'assault rifles.' Yet, the total percentage of rifles known to be used in murders has GONE UP slightly, not down, between 1995 and 2002.

< BRADY > That's because of the loopholes in the AWB. Once we've strengthened the bill so that gun makers can't get around the loopholes, crime will drop. Trust us. We care about children and small furry animals. Look, I've got this guy in a wheelchair I'm pushing around -- that proves I'm compassionate, see? < /BRADY >

 

[Zach S]

I've been peeking at the FBI's UCR data for 1995 and 2002. What amazed me is that we /have/ seen a distinct drop in the number of firearm deaths since 1995.

I'm reminded of one of the 40 reasons for gun control, where one in particular mentions that the 94 crime bill was responsable for the decline of gun deaths and/or crimes since 91. Anyone know where to find the stats?