Television news frequently incorrectly shows pictures of rapid-fire machine guns when discussing the ban, but semiautomatic weapons are not the same as automatic weapons. Semiautomatic weapons fire one bullet each time the trigger is pulled. It requires him to completely replace the existing firing mechanism. Converting any gun into an automatic is a major felony, and it would probably be just as easy for a gunsmith intent on building such a weapon to do so from scratch. Research indicates that higher prices primarily hurt the law-abiding poor who buy guns for protection.
Research reflects that criminals tend to prey on powerless victims.
Urban poor people with guns are more able to defend themselves than those without weapons. Clinton's bashing of guns also gives the false impression that the solution to crime is further gun control. But guns are not used merely to commit crime or to go hunting. People use guns defensively an estimated 2.5 million times each year, and states that have let law-abiding citizens carry concealed handguns have experienced large drops in crime that correspond closely to the number of permits issued. Furthermore, the Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey reports that the probability of serious injury from an attack is 2.5 times greater for women offering no resistance than for women resisting with a gun.