VP Kamala Harris claims that “people across our nation were far less likely to die in a mass shooting” while “the federal assault weapons ban” was in effect during 1994–2004.
IN FACT, Harris’ claim is based on a deceitful study that ignores numerous people murdered in mass shootings during the ban. There is only a weak association between the ban and mass shooting murders, and it is better explained by these other factors:
• The very same law that enacted the ban also contained a massive array of measures to reduce violent crime, including incentives for states to increase “the percentage of convicted violent offenders sentenced to prison” and increase “the average prison time which will be served in prison by convicted violent offenders.” This is significant because the vast bulk of murders are committed by people with long rap sheets.
• Wall-to-wall media coverage of mass shootings — which began with the Columbine school massacre of 1999 — has since motivated many copycat killers seeking fame. Notably, the infamous Columbine mass murder occurred in the midst of the 1994–2004 ban.
• Less than 1% of all murders in the U.S. occur in mass shootings, and the overall murder rate fell by 39% during the years of the ban. Thus, the slight decline in mass shootings may be a consequence of the much larger decline in all murders. This is why a 2004 DOJ-funded study concluded that “we cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence.”
