The morons at Breitbart.com posted an article claiming that after a ban on firearms
assaults involving guns rose more than a 25% and murders with a gun rose nearly 20%.
Of course, this is said without citing any sources.
What does peer reviewed scientific literature say on the matter? A study published in the respected international journal Injury Prevention concluded that
Australia’s 1996 gun law reforms were followed by more than a decade free of fatal mass shootings, and accelerated declines in firearm deaths, particularly suicides. Total homicide rates followed the same pattern. Removing large numbers of rapid-firing firearms from civilians may be an effective way of reducing mass shootings, firearm homicides and firearm suicides.
The graphs showing the trends are posted below. As you can see there are sharp declines in all categories studied except unintentional firearm death rates. The decline in firearm homocides is not significant, but it's NOT the increase that the fool at Breitbart lied about.
Key points
•A radical gun law reform occurred in Australia after a gun massacre (35 dead and 18 seriously injured) in April 1996. Semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns and rifles were banned; a tax-funded firearm buyback and amnesties saw over 700 000 guns surrendered from an adult population of about 12 million.
•The total firearm deaths, firearm homicides and firearm suicides had been falling in the 18 years preceding the new gun laws. In all, 13 mass shootings were noticed in the 18 years preceding the new gun laws.
•In the 10.5 years after the gun law reforms, there have been no mass shootings, but accelerated declines in annual total gun deaths and firearm suicides and a non-significant accelerated decline in firearm homicides. No substitution effects occurred for suicides or homicides.
The author of the Breitbart article, Awr Hawkings, even claimed falsely that Australia banned "all privately owned firearms". That's not true. According to the Injury Prevention article, Australia only banned " semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns and rifles from civilian possession". This once again shows the attempt at fear-mongering by the Right, in claiming that liberals want to take away ALL guns. In fact, most liberals aren't arguing for a complete ban, just reasonable regulations and oversight.
And Hawkings brings up George Washington. But, did Washington say Americans should be armed, or that they should be armed with semi-automatic weapons? Hawkings is insulting Washington just bringing him up after blatantly lying for political reasons.
But there it is: the side that uses facts and evidence is the side trying to solve problems, making sure massacres like this don't happen again. The side that uses lies to fight for the status quo is the side that is politicizing deaths after a massacre.