The VPC’s alleged study – after the ban
Pro-Gun Progressive notes that Violence Policy Center’s made up statistic that 1 in 5 cops killed with weapons that look like assault weapons isn’t even affected by the sunset of the assault weapons ban:
The VPC claimed 1 in 5 police officers were killed by so-called assault weapons, so what has happened to police deaths since the ban lapsed?
In 2005, the FBI records exactly 3 police deaths resulting from criminal use of rifles — that is out of 50 from all all firearms (42 using handguns and 5 using shotguns). I don’t know how many of these 3 rifles were semi-automatic rifles with large replaceable magazines, pistol-grips and bayonet lugs — the FBI doesn’t say.
…
Fewer were killed with rifles than were killed by deliberate assaults with vehicles.
Looking through the “Summaries of Officers Killed” …, I count that 47 of the 54 killers (87%) had prior criminal records. In several of these instances lacking a prior record, the killer is not known with certainty.
There were problems with their made up numbers any way that had little to do with the ban’s expiration. Such as:
They have to cheat to win.
November 1st, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Back when they were demonizing “assau7lt weopons” in the leadup to the ban, someone did a review of the previous few years of crime statistics from Chicago, which were detailed enough to list weapons used. More people were murdered by being strangled with undergarments than by being shot with military-caliber rifles.
November 5th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
Great Post Uncle!