Would banning “semi-automatic assault rifles” dramatically reduce gun crime in the USA? Or is that a theory founded on fallacy? - Thomas Williams America, the country of free markets, free people and free speech, a gun crazed country in which over 40% of the populous say they either own a gun or live in a house with one. (Pew Research Center, 2017). It is undoubtedly true, that on the whole America has a Gun loving culture in which more guns exist than people. However, in recent times, the country is divided. Following every mass shooting a common theme persists. “It seems as if each time there is a new tragedy, some in the media, some political figures and some in the public wait just long enough to find out a detail that supports their political agenda. Then, they let loose with political blame.” (Attkisson, 2019). For many leading house Democrats (high profile members of the USA Democratic party), this agenda is for tighter regulation and increased gun control. A common solution offered by many house Democrats such as presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, to Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey is to ban “semi-automatic assault rifles”. However, many believe that banning semi-automatic weaponry would have very little effects to gun crime on the whole. Recent mass shootings and national tragedies have damaged the social fabric of the USA such that, despite bans of any kind generally being unpopular, “so many Americans are so upset, many of them by school shootings, and rightly so, that they might be open to a ban if it promised to save lives” (Carlson, 2018)
Definitions Semi-automatic Weaponry A weapon that is “able to fire repeatedly through an automatic reloading process but requiring release and another pressure of the trigger for each successive shot a semiautomatic rifle”. (Merriam-Webster, 2019) Assault Rifle A lightweight rifle developed from the sub-machine gun, which may be set to fire automatically or semi-automatically. (Oxford, 2019) History
Luckily, we do not have to guess concerning the results (or lack there of) from banning “semi-automatic assault rifles” such as AR-15s due to the fact that there has already been a ban of such a kind, for 10 years starting in 1994. This ban, colloquially known as the “ten-year ban” is legally referred to as the “The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act or Federal Assault Weapons Ban” (USA-Federal-Government, 1994). “Although the weapons banned by this legislation were used only rarely in gun crimes before the ban, supporters felt that these weapons posed a threat to public safety because they are capable of firing many shots rapidly. They argued that these characteristics enhance offenders’ ability to kill and wound more persons and to inflict multiple wounds on each victim, so that a decrease in their use would reduce the fatality rate of gun attacks.” (US-D.O.J, 1999) however, this thesis was shown to be incorrect with the effects on overall 15
