These laws prohibit the purchase and possession of assault weapons, high-powered semi-automatic firearms. While state definitions vary, these guns typically fire rounds with up to four times the muzzle velocity of a standard handgun round—inflicting greater damage on the human body.
The Impact
Of all mass shooting incidents between 2009 and 2018, assault weapons accounted for 32% of deaths and 82% of nonfatal injuries. One study estimated that reinstatement of the 1994–2004 federal assault weapons ban could prevent 70% of mass shooting deaths.
Source: Cal. Penal Code § 30510; Cal. Penal Code § 30515; Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53-202a; Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-1; Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law § 4-301; Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121; N.J. Stat. Ann. § 13:54-1.2; N.Y. Penal Law § 265.00.
2009–2018: Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. (Last update 2022, January 7). Mass shootings in America. Everytown Research and Policy. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://everytownresearch.org/maps/mass-shootings-in-america-2009-2019/.
70%: DiMaggio C, Avraham J, Cherisse B, Bukur M, . . . & Frangos S. (2019, January). Changes in US mass shooting deaths associated with the 1994–2004 federal assault weapons ban: Analysis of open-source data. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 86(1): 11–19. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Abstract/2019/01000/Changes_in_US_mass_shooting_deaths_associated_with.2.aspx.
