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View Full Version : Why Gun Control Groups Have Moved Away from an Assault Weapons Ban



30 cal slut
09-10-14, 12:35
http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/09/gun-control-assault-weapons/





The morning after the Sandy Hook shootings, Shannon Watts, a mother of five and a former public relations executive, started a Facebook page called “One Million Moms for Gun Control.” It proved wildly popular and members quickly focused on renewing the federal ban on military style assault weapons.

“We all were outraged about the fact that this man could use an AR-15, which seemed like a military grade weapon, and go into an elementary school and wipe out 26 human beings in less than five minutes,” Watts said.

Nearly two years later, Watts works full-time as the head of the group, now named Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, is a significant player in a coalition financed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But while polls suggest a majority of Americans still support an assault weapons ban, it is no longer one of Watts’ top priorities.

“We’ve very much changed our strategy to focus on public safety measures that will save the most lives,” she told ProPublica.

It’s not just that the ban proved to be what Watts calls a “nonstarter” politically, gaining fewer votes in the Senate post-Sandy Hook than background check legislation. It was also that as Watts spoke to experts and learned more about gun violence in the United States, she realized that pushing for a ban isn’t the best way to prevent gun deaths.

A 2004 Justice Department-funded evaluation found no clear evidence that the decade-long ban saved any lives. The guns categorized as “assault weapons” had only been used in about 2 percent of gun crimes before the ban. “Should it be renewed,” the report concluded, “the ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”

With more information, Watts decided that focusing on access to guns, not types of guns, was a smarter approach. She came to the same conclusion that other gun control groups had reached even before the Sandy Hook shootings: “Ultimately,” she said, “what’s going to save the most lives are background checks.”

markm
09-10-14, 12:40
It's weird that someone would take an objective look at how useless bans are/were.

They still need to ban the clips though right? :sarcastic:

Onyx Z
09-10-14, 12:43
A 2004 Justice Department-funded evaluation found no clear evidence that the decade-long ban saved any lives. The guns categorized as “assault weapons” had only been used in about 2 percent of gun crimes before the ban. “Should it be renewed,” the report concluded, “the ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”

With the crook Holder at the helm of the DOJ, I'm sure they would come to a different conclusion today...

BoringGuy45
09-10-14, 13:03
A 2004 Justice Department-funded evaluation found no clear evidence that the decade-long ban saved any lives. The guns categorized as “assault weapons” had only been used in about 2 percent of gun crimes before the ban. “Should it be renewed,” the report concluded, “the ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”

When the statistical arguments go against them, they fall back on the old reliable: Logical fallacies like appeal to authority (Experts agree that an assault weapons ban would drastically reduce crime), emotional arguments (How can still oppose an assault weapons ban when 26 kids are dead because of an AR-15??), soundbites (You don't need an AR-15 to hunt a deer), speculation (if the Founding Fathers knew that assault weapons were going to be invented, the 2nd Amendment would have never passed) and lies.

SteyrAUG
09-10-14, 13:33
Give me a call when this retard figures out criminals will always get guns, and guns in the hands of law abiding citizens actually save lives.

When they stop focusing on guns, cars and knives and start focusing on criminals and dangerous people, then we can try and make some actual progress.

They are half way there with the realization that "some people" shouldn't have guns. Problem is they are focused on keeping guns away from those people rather than keeping those those people away from everyone else. A person who would be a violent criminal with a gun, will still be a violent criminal with or without a gun.

7.62NATO
09-10-14, 13:36
.......

docsherm
09-10-14, 13:42
It will not end good no matter what.

Crow Hunter
09-10-14, 15:26
Give me a call when this retard figures out criminals will always get guns, and guns in the hands of law abiding citizens actually save lives.

When they stop focusing on guns, cars and knives and start focusing on criminals and dangerous people, then we can try and make some actual progress.

They are half way there with the realization that "some people" shouldn't have guns. Problem is they are focused on keeping guns away from those people rather than keeping those those people away from everyone else. A person who would be a violent criminal with a gun, will still be a violent criminal with or without a gun.

I like that part. Very succinct.

Caeser25
09-10-14, 15:35
Considering Lanza stole the rifle he used, background checks a mute point.

thopkins22
09-10-14, 15:40
The tide has been turning in our favor for 30 years. We're in the process of watching it end well. With a few exceptions(MG's and imports being the big ones,) we're living in a much more liberal society regarding guns than at any point in most of your lives. Concealed carry swept the nation. NFA items at ranges are commonplace. The industry is bigger and healthier than it has ever been. AR's are no longer niche, they dominate new rifle purchases across the spectrum of gun owners. Action shooting occurs at almost every range in the country. There are television shows showing responsible use of those guns(Top Shot, 3-Gun Nation, and so forth...we're all going to ignore the rapist.)

While we can't ever stop being vigilant, or pushing for more freedom...every gun control measure at the federal level has been stopped cold and even those that are quite liberal like Reid didn't want them going to a vote. The states that are lost have been lost for decades. Everywhere else? We're winning, and we're winning big.

Of course the next time there's a big push the fear mongers will be here stating that the best case scenario is that AR's wind up as NFA items and other ridiculousness.

SteyrAUG
09-10-14, 16:55
Considering Lanza stole the rifle he used, background checks a mute point.

Yep. The only thing that would have prevented Sandy Hook is control of people like Adam Lanza.

skydivr
09-10-14, 17:11
The 'frontal assault didn't work', so now they will try to make an 'end run'....

Doc Safari
09-10-14, 17:50
The tide has been turning in our favor for 30 years. We're in the process of watching it end well. With a few exceptions(MG's and imports being the big ones,) we're living in a much more liberal society regarding guns than at any point in most of your lives. Concealed carry swept the nation. NFA items at ranges are commonplace. The industry is bigger and healthier than it has ever been. AR's are no longer niche, they dominate new rifle purchases across the spectrum of gun owners. Action shooting occurs at almost every range in the country. There are television shows showing responsible use of those guns(Top Shot, 3-Gun Nation, and so forth...we're all going to ignore the rapist.)

While we can't ever stop being vigilant, or pushing for more freedom...every gun control measure at the federal level has been stopped cold and even those that are quite liberal like Reid didn't want them going to a vote. The states that are lost have been lost for decades. Everywhere else? We're winning, and we're winning big.

Of course the next time there's a big push the fear mongers will be here stating that the best case scenario is that AR's wind up as NFA items and other ridiculousness.

In a way, the liberals outsmarted themselves with the 1994 AWB by allowing it to sunset in 10 years as an incentive to get it passed. Once actual data existed that it did little or nothing to change crime statistics, that law was moot. Even though the attempt to extend it narrowly got defeated IIRC, now in the aftermath we can point to the law's ineffectiveness every time it comes up for a vote, and that's a hard point to argue against.

LowSpeed_HighDrag
09-11-14, 09:35
If only Adam Lanza had run to his local FFL to get a background check before he stole his mom's guns!

markm
09-11-14, 09:40
Yep. The only thing that would have prevented Sandy Hook is control of people like Adam Lanza.

That dizzy bitch mom of his should have known to secure the weapons elsewhere... AT A MINIMUM.

Yeah... I'm trying to get my whack job kid legally institutionalized, but I'll keep his access to these guns intact.

FromMyColdDeadHand
09-11-14, 13:33
If Hillary wins and we get more progressives on the court, it will be a moot point because they'll rule the 2A only applies to disassembled guns in 22lr that are single shot.

And not one Dem will have to cast a single vote.

7.62NATO
09-11-14, 18:43
......

MorphCross
09-11-14, 19:06
If Hillary wins and we get more progressives on the court, it will be a moot point because they'll rule the 2A only applies to disassembled guns in 22lr that are single shot.

And not one Dem will have to cast a single vote.

If Hillary runs she has to get the Democrat nomination. If she wins the Democrat nomination she will then have to win the Electoral College. I want to believe that after the bungling George W. did in office that people would be opposed to Dynasties.

Heavy Metal
09-11-14, 19:48
What's a 'mute' point?

7.62NATO
09-11-14, 20:07
.......

HKGuns
09-11-14, 20:13
No, mute point is just the hillbilly version!

Koshinn
09-11-14, 21:31
What's a 'mute' point?

It's like when people write "per say" when they mean "per se", "I couldn't care more" when they mean "I couldn't care less", when they use "there"/"their"/"they're" wrong, and when they use "literally" figuratively.

Just ignore it. I've also seen "it's a moo point", as in something I'd assume cows do every day.

PatrioticDisorder
09-11-14, 22:17
The 'frontal assault didn't work', so now they will try to make an 'end run'....

41p is the first end run

Todd00000
09-12-14, 07:15
Don't be fooled. Nothing has changed. The final goal remains the same. First, under the guise of universal background checks, comes registration, and after registration, we'll see mass confiscation of semi-automatics and standard capacity magazines. It is exactly the approach Australia took in response to mass shootings.

So let me repeat, don't be fooled. If you're not an NRA/GOA member, please join today.

Yep, don't trust their new found logic.

Onyx Z
09-12-14, 07:54
What's a 'mute' point?

A very quiet point. :p

markm
09-12-14, 08:21
A very quiet point. :p

They're going after silencers!