We Should Not Ban Assault Weapons or High Capacity Magazines

In the future WilliamofOckham copying and pasting other people arguments is considered plagiarism unless it is placed under quotations and the source it was taken from is referenced directly. But no harm no foul and it's insignificant the process of this debate. Next, it is true that the actual process of converting an AR-15, or most other rifles for that matter, to fully automatic isn't very hard. Getting the parts necessary to do this is EXTREMELY difficult. Most states do not permit anyone other than government and law enforcement to own machineguns, the ones that do usually require the machine gun be made before 1986, they need to be registered, they cannot be transported across state lines without prior ATF approval, you must undergoe extensive background checks and waiting periods before you can own one, and some other restrictions. Therefore machineguns are practically illegal and citizens cannot own them. http://www.bushmaster.com... http://www.cga.ct.gov... Next, let's quickly discuss the Aurora Theatre shooting and the AR-15. Yes the AR-15 jammed, and according to a CNBC documentary "The Rise of the AR-15," 68 spent .223 casings were discovered after the shooting. The reason only 12 people were killed, and what most people gun control proponents don't realize, is that the reason only 12 people died is because the .223 bullet is more likely to wound its victims than to maime them. Our military found over history that they were actually more effective when they killed a certain number and wounded a certain number. When an enemy soldier was wounded, two more soldiers had to pull that soldier out of the fight, so now you've taken three people out of the fight instead of just one. This is why we still use the 5.56 NATO (or the .223 remington). The main difference between the .223 bullets Holmes used in the AR-15 and the .40 caliber bullets he used in the handguns he had on him is the fact that the .223 can go farther and is more accurate. Mass shooters rarely spend much time aiming and they don't tend to take place at extreme distances. Therefore with the exception of the 100 round drum magazine, Holmes could have accomplished the same task with another handgun. Next, the "assault weapons ban" does NOT ban firearms based on their capability, but their external looks. The ruger mini 14 literally fire the exact same bullet and functions the exact same as the AR-15, but it would not have been banned under the assault weapons ban of 2013. If anything, it would have exempted rifles that function similiarly but fire bigger and deadlier bullets to the AR-15, such as the remington 750. http://www.chuckhawks.com... If we wanted to talk about banning firearms based upon their potential killing power vs. weighing their practical defensive use then thats fine, but the AR-15 may not fall under that category. More and more people are using the AR-15 for home defense. It's far easier to handle than a shotgun, especially for smaller framed shooters such as petite woman. If loaded with the proper ammunition, its actually less likely to penetrate walls and hurt other family members. And the only reason most people use shotguns over AR-15's is not because their easier to aim (at close range a shotgun functions the same as another rifle), but because their cheaper. See the home defense video. http://www.youtube.com... As for the effectiveness banning assault weapons and reducing crime, I'll repost the links to the studies that report it had either no effect or one so small that it was undetectable. One is provided by the center for disease control, one is provided by the US Department of Justice. http://www.cdc.gov... https://www.ncjrs.gov... Next let's talk about how many people are approximately being killed by assault weapons each year, how many shots are fired by assault weapons, and how many crimes are committed with assault weapons. Below is a list of data I personally developed using a list of assault weapons crimes that was posted on the BradyCampaign site. It is no longer posted on the Brady Campaign website, but I'll include a full MLA citation so you or anyone reading this can look it up on the date it was posted. After factoring out suicides and gun accidents, since those happen with all guns independent of whether or not a gun its an assault rifle, I developed these approximate numbers: People Murdered By Assault Weapons: 2004: 12 2005: 33 2006: 30-41 2007: 46-50 2008: 63-70 2009: 64-89 2010: 9-17 2011: 9-14 2012: 41-43 People Injured: 2004: 4 2005: 31 2006: 17-24 2007: 34-41 2008: 80-100 2009: 72-22 2010: 15-24 2011: 10-14 2012: 76 Total Reported Crimes (involving where no one was hurt): 2004: 7 2005: 31 2006: 35 2007: 30 2008: 128 2009: 148 2010: 17 2011: 12 2012: 11 Over 5 years, approximately 66 incidents out of 419 incidents utilized more than 10 shots (including where no one was hurt). 5 out of 419 incidents utilized more than 75 shots. Over 5 years, around 21 AR-15's were used to commit crimes, 159 crimes were committed with an AK-47 or SKS, and 234 incidents either didn't specify the weapon used or used a different assault weapon. Full Citation: BradyCampaign. "Examples of Assault Weapon Violence Reported Since Ban Expired in 2004." 1 August 2012. bradycampaign.org. http://www.bradycampaign.org.... 13 April 2013. It can also be viewed here: http://issuu.com... There were approximately 250,000 reported firearms crimes in 2010, around 17 of which involved assault weapons. Given how criminals would substitute assault weapons for other weapons, it is unlikely it would have reduced crime. http://www.fbi.gov... "Moreover, when you compare different states with different gun laws at the same time, you find states with tighter gun regulations (including assault weapon bans) have significantly lower rates of firearm death. " Well no kidding. The greatest fallacy of the gun control lobby is the assumption that if we got rid of more guns or certain guns the total people killed automatically goes down. Our focus is and always should be on the TOTAL number of murders and crimes committed, not just firearm deaths and firearm crimes. Also this is blatantly false. California (Ranked number 1 in gun law strength by the brady campaign) had a firearm homicide rate of 3.2 per 100,000 in 2011 and Texas (one of the weakest states for gun law strength) had a firearm homicide rate of 2.7 per 100,000 in 2011. http://www.fbi.gov... http://www.fbi.gov... The assault weapons ban did not lower crime because, even after the ban was lifted, the contributions assault weapons had on crime were extremely small and probably would have been substituted for other firearms or even by means other than firearms.