Do laws regulating assault weapons reduce gun violence?

Yes. A 2018 study found that mass shooting fatalities were 70 percent less likely to occur from 1994 to 2004, when the federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was in effect, than during the 13 years studied before and after the prohibition. Researchers estimate a federal assault weapon prohibition would have prevented 314 of 448 mass shooting deaths that occurred during the studied periods when the prohibition was not in effect. State assault weapons prohibitions are also associated with a lower likelihood of an active shooter event.