Menu

Argument: The 1994 US assault weapons ban significantly decreased use

Issue Report: Assault weapons ban in the United States

Support

The use of assault weapons is down 17%, according to a 2004 report to the National Institute of Justice: “Following implementation of the ban, the share of gun crimes involving AWs declined by 17% to 72% across the localities examined for this study (Baltimore, Miami, Milwaukee, Boston, St. Louis, and Anchorage), based on data covering all or portions of the 1995-2003 post-ban period. This is consistent with patterns found in national data on guns recovered by police and reported to ATF.”