5 Facts about Guns and Gun Control

The title says it all. Today’s post will be a little more controversial than usual, but it’s something I feel compelled to write.

I will not be presenting any arguments on either side of the issue. Rather, I will do nothing more than lay out 5 important facts about guns and gun control in America that I think are overlooked.

Fact #1: The semi-automatic rifle was invented in the 1880’s.

That’s not a typo. The first semi-automatic, magazine-fed rifle (which is what an AR-15 is) was invented almost 140 years ago. Ulysses S. Grant was still alive when the rifle’s inventor, Austrian-born Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlichet, unveiled his design.

This means that, while the frequency of mass shootings in America is relatively new, the technology of the firearms used is older than gas-powered cars.

Fact #2: “Assault Rifles” have been banned since 1986.

In 1986, the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act was passed with an amendment that banned the purchase or transfer of newly made assault rifles. In fact, assault rifles had been heavily regulated since 1934.

I should clarify here that “assault rifle” is not a legitimate firearms term. The type of gun people are talking about when using this term is fully automatic guns (guns which fire more than one bullet per trigger pull). This term, unfortunately, has become common vernacular, which is why I’m using it. Guns like the AR-15 are not assault rifles because they only fire one bullet per trigger pull.

Fact #3: Gun bans don’t really do what everyone says they’ll do.

This goes for both sides of the issue. One side will say that gun bans save lives while the other insists violence will go up, and they’re both wrong. When looking at data for violent crime in nations that initiate gun bans, you do see a short-term spike in violent crime, but in the long run the level of violence stays roughly the same.

Fact #4: Guns are more heavily regulated in the US than ever before.

As alluded to in my second point, there exists far more gun control in the US today than 100 years ago. In 1918, anybody could walk into a gun shop and leave with a fully-automatic Thompson submachine gun, a 50-round drum magazine, and ammunition, no questions asked (literally, no background checks). In 1898, anyone with a pulse could order an ’94 Marlin rifle and a box of ammunition for $12 from a Sears catalogue and have it dropped off at their front door by the mailman.

Fact #5: Since 1966, mass shootings in which four people or more are killed by a lone gunman have killed 1,077 Americans (Click here for the source).

Contrast this to deaths in automobile accidents, which in 2017 (the most recent year with complete data) came to a total of just over 37,000. At current rate, it would take 1820 years mass shootings in the US to kill as many people as auto accidents do in just one year.