FACT BRIEF

Have previous restrictions on assault weapons reduced mass-shooting deaths?

Friday, June 10, 2022

By Lisa Freedland

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YES

Drops in mass-shooting deaths have followed earlier bans on assault weapons bans in the U.S. and abroad.

In the U.S., during a 1994-2004 ban on semiautomatic rifles and magazines accommodating more than ten rounds of ammunition, mass-shooting deaths were 70% less likely to occur than at any other time between 1987 and 2017, according to a study published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. Authors noted that assault rifles were responsible for nearly 86% of such deaths over the time period. Northwestern Medicine found that the ban would have prevented 339 deaths and 1,139 injuries from mass shootings if Congress hadn't let it expire.

After Australia's 1996 Port Arthur massacre, which was committed with an AR-15, the country implemented a mandatory gun buyback program that reduced mass shootings along with female homicide victimization, according to RAND Corp.

Britain and New Zealand also implemented assault weapons bans following mass shootings, resulting in lower rates of gun violence.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

National Library of Medicine Changes in US mass shooting deaths associated with the 1994-2004 federal assault weapons ban: Analysis of open-source data

Northwestern University Assault weapon ban significantly reduces mass shooting

RAND The Effects of the 1996 National Firearms Agreement in Australia on Suicide, Homicide, and Mass Shootings

New York Times Other Countries Had Mass Shootings. Then They Changed Their Gun Laws.

ABC (Australia) Joe Biden says mass shootings rarely happen outside the US. What have other countries done that America hasn't?

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