Yes. A 2024 study found that the federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was associated with a significant decrease in public mass shootings and related casualties, preventing up to five public mass shootings during the 10 years (1994–2004) it was in effect. The researchers also estimated that, had the law remained in effect from 2005 through 2022, it would have prevented 38 public mass shootings.1Alex Lars Lundberg et al., “Public Mass Shootings: Counterfactual Trend Analysis of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban,” JMIR Public Health and Surveillance 10 (2024): e62952, https://doi.org/10.2196/62952. Similarly, a 2019 study found that the federal assault weapons and high-capacity magazine bans reduced mass shooting fatalities, and had the law continued, it would have prevented hundreds of mass shooting deaths.2Charles DiMaggio et al., “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, no. 1 (2019): 11–19, https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000002060. State assault weapons prohibitions are also associated with a lower likelihood of an active shooter event.3Sam Petulla, “Here Is 1 Correlation Between State Gun Laws and Mass Shootings,” CNN, October 5, 2017, https://cnn.it/2J4sWCC; Charles J. DiMaggio et al., “State Assault Weapons Bans Are Associated with Fewer Fatalities: Analysis of US County Mass Shooting Incidents (2014–2022),” Injury Prevention 32 (2026): 317–22, https://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2024-045263.
Assault Weapons Prohibited
11 states have adopted this policy
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How do guns enter the illegal market?
According to ATF research, the three leading methods of gun trafficking are straw purchasing, unlicensed dealing, and thefts from gun dealers.
