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Prohibit Assault Weapons

    Solutions

    Prohibit Assault Weapons

    What does it solve?

    Assault weapons are exceptionally deadly firearms commonplace in mass fatality shootings and increasingly showing up at scenes of everyday violence in our country. They are generally capable of firing far more bullets, far faster than manual-action hunting rifles. Prohibiting assault weapons can prevent mass shooting injuries and deaths.

    Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines Report

    Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines are frequently used in the violence that plagues our nation. When used in mass shootings, assault weapons and high-capacity magazines drastically increase the number of people shot. And assault weapons make up a growing share of guns police recover in connection with a crime in cities. Some states and Washington, DC, have enacted legislation to prohibit assault weapons.

      Assault Weapons Prohibited

      Which states prohibit assault weapons?

      AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

      Alabama has not adopted this policy

      Alaska has not adopted this policy

      Arizona has not adopted this policy

      Arkansas has not adopted this policy

      California has adopted this policy

      Colorado has not adopted this policy

      Connecticut has adopted this policy

      Delaware has adopted this policy

      Florida has not adopted this policy

      Georgia has not adopted this policy

      Hawaii has not adopted this policy

      Idaho has not adopted this policy

      Illinois has adopted this policy

      Indiana has not adopted this policy

      Iowa has not adopted this policy

      Kansas has not adopted this policy

      Kentucky has not adopted this policy

      Louisiana has not adopted this policy

      Maine has not adopted this policy

      Maryland has adopted this policy

      Massachusetts has adopted this policy

      Michigan has not adopted this policy

      Minnesota has not adopted this policy

      Mississippi has not adopted this policy

      Missouri has not adopted this policy

      Montana has not adopted this policy

      Nebraska has not adopted this policy

      Nevada has not adopted this policy

      New Hampshire has not adopted this policy

      New Jersey has adopted this policy

      New Mexico has not adopted this policy

      New York has adopted this policy

      North Carolina has not adopted this policy

      North Dakota has not adopted this policy

      Ohio has not adopted this policy

      Oklahoma has not adopted this policy

      Oregon has not adopted this policy

      Pennsylvania has not adopted this policy

      Rhode Island has adopted this policy

      South Carolina has not adopted this policy

      South Dakota has not adopted this policy

      Tennessee has not adopted this policy

      Texas has not adopted this policy

      Utah has not adopted this policy

      Vermont has not adopted this policy

      Virginia has adopted this policy

      Washington has adopted this policy

      West Virginia has not adopted this policy

      Wisconsin has not adopted this policy

      Wyoming has not adopted this policy

      How it works

      Assault weapons make shootings more lethal.

      Assault weapons are generally high-powered semiautomatic firearms where each round has up to four times the muzzle velocity of a handgun round.1Peter M. Rhee et al., “Gunshot Wounds: A Review of Ballistics, Bullets, Weapons, and Myths,” Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 80, no. 6 (June 2016): 853–67, https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000001037. This means that each round from an assault weapon inflicts greater damage to the human body than a round from a typical handgun.2Nick Kirkpatrick, Atthar Mirza, and Manuel Canales, “The Blast Effect: How Bullets from an AR-15 Blow the Body Apart,” Washington Post, March 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-damage-to-human-body; Gina Kolata and C. J. Chivers, “Wounds From Military-Style Rifles? ‘A Ghastly Thing to See,’ ” New York Times, March 4, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/health/parkland-shooting-victims-ar15.html; Elzerie de Jager et al., “Lethality of Civilian Active Shooter Incidents With and Without Semiautomatic Rifles in the United States,” Journal of the American Medical Association 320, no. 10 (2018): 1034, https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.11009; Gracie R. Baum et al., “Gunshot Wounds: Ballistics, Pathology, and Treatment Recommendations, with a Focus on Retained Bullets,” Orthopedic Research and Reviews 14 (2022): 293–317. https://doi.org/10.2147/ORR.S378278. Moreover, semiautomatic weapons can load and fire subsequent rounds much faster than manually operated firearms. When combined with high-capacity magazines—commonly defined as magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition—they allow a shooter to fire more rounds over a short period without pausing to reload.

      These guns are often used in mass fatality shootings3Rosanna Smart, Rachel Nesbit, and Terry L. Schell, “Mass Shootings in the United States,” RAND Corporation, January 29, 2026, https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/essays/mass-shootings.html; Everytown Research analysis of mass shootings in the United States, 2016–2025; Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “Guns Used in the Deadliest US Mass Shootings,” The Smoking Gun, https://smokinggun.org/guns-used-in-the-deadliest-u-s-mass-shooting; Jillian Peterson and James Densley, “The Violence Project Database of Mass Shootings in the United States (Version 10),” January 2026, https://www.theviolenceproject.org/databases/mass-shooters. and recovered at other crime scenes,4Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “Who Is Manufacturing the Guns Used in Crimes? City-Level Data on Crime Gun Recoveries,” December 16, 2025, https://everytownresearch.org/report/city-level-data-crime-gun-recoveries; Brendin R. Beaulieu-Jones et al., “Nearly 20 Years Since the Federal Ban: Can State-Level Assault Weapon Prohibitions Fill the Void? Comparative Analysis of Case Fatality and Assault Weapon Recovery in States With and Without an Assault Weapon Ban,” Journal of Surgical Research 300 (2024): 458–66, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2024.05.018; Christopher S. Koper et al., “Criminal Use of Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Semiautomatic Firearms: An Updated Examination of Local and National Sources,” Journal of Urban Health 95, no. 3 (2018): 313–21, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0205-7; Everytown Research analysis of ATF, “Top Calibers Recovered and Traced in the United States and Territories,” 2018 and 2023 data, https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/data-statistics/firearms-trace-data-reports (Analysis includes total crime gun recoveries with .223 caliber, 5.56mm, and 7.62mm reported on the trace request). but a growing body of research shows a prohibition on assault weapons can prevent mass shooting fatalities and active shooter events.5Alex 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; Lori Post et al., “Impact of Firearm Surveillance on Gun Control Policy: Regression Discontinuity Analysis,” JMIR Public Health and Surveillance 7, no. 4 (2021): e26042, https://doi.org/10.2196/26042; Charles DiMaggio et al., “Changes in US Mass Shooting Deaths Associated with the 1994–2004 Federal Assault Weapon 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; 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; Louis Klarevas, Andrew Conner, and David Hemenway, “The Effect of Large-Capacity Magazine Bans on High-Fatality Mass Shootings, 1990–2017,” American Journal of Public Health 109, no. 12 (2019): 1754–61, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305311.

      Lawmakers should act to prohibit these excessively dangerous firearms.

      By the numbers

      Victories

      You might be wondering…

      1. 1 Do laws regulating assault weapons reduce gun violence?

      Learn More

      Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines Resource
      Mass Shootings in the United States Resource
      Misogyny, Extremism, and Gun Violence Resource
      The Smoking Gun Resource
      4x

      Did you know?

      Assault weapons rounds have up to 4x the muzzle velocity of a handgun round.

      Peter M. Rhee et al., “Gunshot Wounds: A Review of Ballistics, Bullets, Weapons, and Myths,” Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 80, no. 6 (June 2016): 853–67, https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000001037.