What an assault weapons ban could -- and couldn't -- do to end US mass shootings

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

61% : Now that Republicans -- who continue to oppose any kind of perceived infringement on gun rights -- control the House, the likelihood that Congress could pass such a ban in the near future remains slim.
58% : But individual studies have found evidence that assault weapons bans are effective.
48% : "These laws are newer than assault weapons bans, but there's already a really strong and growing body of evidence that shows that they're very effective at preventing mass shootings, but even more so at preventing suicides," said David Pucino, Giffords Law Center's deputy chief counsel.
44% : Beyond assault weapons bans, there are policies that evidence suggests might be more effective at preventing mass shootings and gun violence overall.
43% : The US has had a national assault weapons ban before.
42% : A 2021 study found that had the federal assault weapons ban remained in effect from 2005 through 2019, it would have prevented 30 mass shootings where an assault weapon was obtained legally resulting in the deaths of 339 people.
41% : But that package didn't include an assault weapons ban.
40% : One 2019 study found that mass shooting deaths were 70 percent less likely to occur while the federal assault weapons ban was in effect based on data from 1981 to 2017.
40% : But that's not to say that assault weapons bans shouldn't be on the table.
38% : "I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapon ban.
37% : So that makes it hard to understand how gun policies, including assault weapons bans, might impact both the number of mass shooting incidents and the number of casualties.
31% : That has led President Joe Biden to repeatedly push for a national assault weapons ban in the wake of mass shootings, including the one at Covenant School.

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