Need source for FBI crime statistic!

[emc]

Back in March, when we had the chance to get the firearms litigation pre-emption bill passed, I contacted both of my senators (Bayh & Lugar) to encourage them to vote in favor of it, and to vote against any amendments to the bill.

In their responses to me, they both indicated that they were in favor of this litigation reform, and that they also voted in FAVOR of the renewal of the AWB. In an attempt to support this antigun vote, they both cited some "FBI statistic" which supposedly states that certain categories of crime had decreased due to the present AWB. This smacks of some sort of talking point supplied by an anti-gun group, since these two are not the only senators who cited this stat in a feeble attempt to justify their continued sell out of the 2nd Amendment.

While I do not trust either of these &#@$!*% individuals, I still want to register my protest with them at what they have done, and to have a chance to appropriately refute it. I have not been able to find this FBI stat they referred to, and wonder if anyone has been able to do this.

Thanks,

emc

 

[EghtySx]

A quick search revealed these sites to me. I am now in the process of looking through them.


http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict.htm

http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/crime.html

http://www.cccofnaiw.com/articles/item_111.htm

 

[sendec]

The previously cited FBI UCR link/site is the definitive source for crime stats. I am unfamiliar with precisely what stat you are referring to, but I would bet it is the section in the UCR referred to as the "Officers Killed Summary" wherein there is a section on the weapons used in assaults on officers.

Another source for similar stats is the National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

When this type of statistic is cited, it is usually because there is a correlation between the two figures. Typically people erroneously confuse correlation with causation. The AWB may very well correlate positively with a decrease in certain types of crime, but that does not mean that the AWB caused the decrease. Crime in general is decreasing, but there are many,many possible reasons, other than the presence of a law. When a politician, or anyone, implies that something caused a decrease (or increase) in something else, it is important to determine if they have fallen victim (or are using it intentionally) to the fallacy that corelation equals causation

 

[emc]

Sendec, I've found a copy of the letter that Lugar sent to all of us in Indiana who contacted him about this. The following is quoted from a letter to another THR member:

"I also voted for extending the assault weapons ban for an additional ten years because it is important to lessen the ability of criminals to legally obtain these sorts of firearms. Since enactment of the ban in 1994, the proportion of banned assault weapons traced to crimes has dropped 65.8%."

The same reference is made in letters sent by Bayh (D-Indiana) and Warner (R-Virginia), which is pretty suspicious.

The following quotes Warner (who admits that he co-sponsored an AWB reauthorization with Feinstein):

"Recent Dept. of Justice records indicate that the use of banned assault weapons in crimes has declined measurably - by 65% in one analysis - since the measure took effect."

At any rate, hopefully this helps a bit. Not being familiar with the various DOJ records out there, I wasn't sure where to start.

Thanks,

emc

 

[Harry Tuttle]

check out Roth's report

http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/173405.pdf

http://www.claytoncramer.com/Impacts.htm

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcassaul.html

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Since enactment of the ban in 1994, the proportion of banned assault weapons traced to crimes has dropped 65.8%."

A good response to this is this article:
http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/kopel.traces.html

However, it is probably a moot point since I would hope no Congressman was genuinely stupid enough to not realize that even if the banned weapons did drop, mechanically identical ones were still legal and available.