Feinstein's Proposed Legislation

[mrerick]

I actually read the first of the studies that Feinstein referenced in her post.

She took one quote out of context. Try as they might to spin things, the rest of the study essentially says that the 1994 ban didn't make any difference...

That is the most supportive of what they quoted on their website!

Here are some extracts:
First, the study itself:

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/jerrylee/re..._final2004.pdf

Next, the ban itself... Federally funded, this followed up on a series of studies called for in the original law (which is title XI Firearms of this document

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-1...3hr3355enr.pdf

Try as they might to swizzle numbers in the study, they were unable to show any effectiveness in:

- Reducing crime
- Increasing the price of "Assault Weapons"

They did document an increase in the price of "Large Capacity Magazines) of about 40%.

They included the quaint idea that criminals actually bought their crime guns...

Finally concluding:

"The findings of the previous chapters suggest that it is premature to make definitive assessments of the ban’s impact on gun violence."

- and that is 10 years after enactment of the flawed ban.

They admitted that "Assault Weapons" contributed to a very small minority of crimes. 2% or so in most cases.

They also showed that gun crimes resulting in death didn't change a bit over the first 8 years of the ban.

"But this still begs the question of whether a 10-round limit on magazine capacity will affect the outcomes of enough gun attacks to measurably reduce gun injuries and deaths."

"Similarly, neither medical nor criminological data sources have shown any post-ban reduction in the percentage of crime-related gunshot victims who die."

"If anything, therefore, gun attacks appear to have been more lethal and injurious since the ban."

Try as they might to swizzle statistics, the summary reads:

"9.4. Summary
Although the ban has been successful in reducing crimes with AWs, any benefits from this reduction are likely to have been outweighed by steady or rising use of non-banned semiautomatics with LCMs, which are used in crime much more frequently than AWs. Therefore, we cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence, based on indicators like the percentage of gun crimes resulting in death or the share of gunfire incidents resulting in injury, as we might have expected had the ban reduced crimes with both AWs and LCMs."

- - - - - - - - - -

Finally, they talk about the time after lifting the ban:

"It is also possible, and perhaps probable, that new AWs and LCMs will eventually be used to commit mass murder. Mass murders garner much media attention, particularly when they involve AWs (Duwe, 2000). The notoriety likely to accompany mass murders if committed with AWs and LCMs, especially after these guns and magazines have been deregulated, could have a considerable negative impact on public perceptions, an effect that would almost certainly be intensified if such crimes were committed by terrorists operating in the U.S."

- - - - - - - - - -

This study is almost a playbook for the ineffectiveness of prohibition, and what to do to get the next one...

[Horse'nround]

Becareful with this line of thinking guys. This is the bait and switch game.
With Fienbitch spuing her far left wingnut-ism, one of those less left sleepers is going to get one of those barbless hooks to pass. Remember that a HOOK is a HOOK, once they're inside the wire then it's a whole different fight!!