Apparently Assault Weapons Don’t Wreak All That Slaughter

Here’s something most of us knew already – we just didn’t expect the New York Times to say it. Sure, it’s essentially a repost of an article from Pro Publica, but still…the Times?

“It turns out that big, scary military rifles don’t kill the vast majority of the 11,000 Americans murdered with guns each year. Little handguns do. In 2012, only 322 people were murdered with any kind of rifle, F.B.I. data shows.The continuing focus on assault weapons stems from the media’s obsessive focus on mass shootings, which disproportionately involve weapons like the AR-15, a civilian version of the military M16 rifle. This, in turn, obscures some grim truths about who is really dying from gunshots.”

The article touches on what it describes as the demographic that suffers the most murders annually (black males), the truth of public disinterest in a handgun ban and the declining gun-related homicide rate.

There’s even a hint at some things that might actually be worthy of time, attention and effort to resolve (vs. the energy wasted on ‘assault weapon bans’ and unrealistic gun control efforts.

“This is not just a gun issue, this is an unemployment issue, it’s a poverty issue, it’s a family issue, it’s a culture of violence issue.” Cities United

It’s nice to see something like this, though it probably won’t make much of a difference to the incorrigible, die-hard anti-gunners. You watch, someone will use this to switch from ghost guns to a would-be ban on assault massacre revolvers.

The op-ed quoted here was written by Lois Beckett. You can find it on the New York Times website here or the on Pro Publica’s site here.

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