From: [b--o--h] at [mdd.comm.mot.com] (Greg Booth) Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Subject: "Paramilitary Firearms" Date: 3 Jan 1994 09:03:15 -0800 12. Paramilitary Firearms o There are approximately 247,000 legally owned fully automatic weapons (Assault rifles, machine guns, sub machine guns) in the USA, according to the BATF, in the years since 1934, only ONE of these weapons has been used by their legal owner in a criminal offence. A Dayton, Ohio police officer performed a contract killing with one. o There are approximately 5,000 legally owned fully automatic weapons (Assault rifles, machine guns, submachine guns) in Canada, yet since 1934 NONE of these weapons has been used by their legal owner in a criminal offence. o In a paper presented to the Royal Society in 1663, Palmer described the theory of operation used by modern machine guns, both recoil and gas-operated. In 1718, Puckle was granted a patent on an automatic weapon. Multiple-barrel weapons, which Palmer's and Puckle's weren't, were developed centuries earlier. Some of these earlier guns also used a rather clever way of getting multiple shots from the same barrel without reloading. Revolvers had also been invented by the 1770s and the Brits actually used semi-autos against the colonials. o Bolt action and lever action rifles are convertible to be fully automatic weapons. At the turn of the century John Browning's first machine gun was converted from a lever action rifle. During World War One, the factory in Canada converted the Ross bolt action rifle into the Huot machine gun. During World War Two in New Zealand, 2000 Lee Enfield bolt action rifles were converted into the Charlton light machine gun. o In 1990 the state of Florida, faced with increasing pressure to condemn "assault weapons," assembled a commission to study the evidence and then issue a report to the governor and legislature. The panel, comprised of lawmakers, citizens, representatives from both pro- and anti-gun groups and law enforcement officials, spent several months examining data supplied by both state and federal law enforcement agencies. The group also heard testimony from Florida police officers who work within some of the region's worst criminal battle zones. Early this spring the commission announced the results of their labors, with the findings mirroring similar studies conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF). In summary, the commission concluded that based on police reports, actual testimony and statistics provided by federal agencies, the use of "assault weapons" by criminals constituted only a fraction of a percent of types of firearms employed in felonious activity. The commission discovered that media hype and anti-gun advertising had created a sinister ambience around these firearms without actually clarifying what the guns were. The term "assault weapon" is generally defined as a military weapon capable of both semiautomatic and fully automatic fire. Written testimony supplied to the commission indicated that fully automatic firearms were rarely if ever used by criminals. In fact, there was no evidence that a licensed fully automatic firearm has ever been instrumental in a reported crime. The panel found that the term "assault weapon" as portrayed by the media referred to semiautomatics in general, especially guns resembling military-style combat firearms. The resulting confusion made reporting by police officials difficult at best, the commission determined. As a result they called for a clarified reporting system that would indicate the type, make, caliber and action of any firearm used in a crime. Even with the confusion, actual data available still indicated that use of semi-autos by criminals was negligible. This supported BATF findings nationwide that semiautomatic firearms were not "20 times more likely to be used in a crime" and were not the "weapon of choice" of drug dealers. These assumptions have been advanced by anti-gun organizations, have formed the basis of a discriminatory newspaper study, and have often been echoed by media commentators. The Florida report, in concert with federal studies, also found that stolen guns rather than over-the-counter purchases were most often employed by criminals. Some anti-gun groups insist that Florida gun shops are doing a brisk trade supplying "assault weapons" to drug gangs. The commission found no evidence to support this accusation. In conclusion, the commission could not uncover any reason to place restrictions upon the sale of semiautomatic firearms and determined that these guns posed no particular menace to law enforcement. Instead they called for harsh mandatory sentences for the criminal misuse of firearms, an end to plea- bargaining in firearms-related crimes, better reporting procedures in naming firearms used in crimes, and an improved database to prohibit point-of-purchase sales and the issue of carry permits to individuals with a history of mental incompetency. The BADGE - Law Enforcement News From The NRA - Fall, 1990 (Vol. 2, No. 3) o Why would anybody want to buy a military style firearm? For much the same reason that people buy antiques, such as cars or furniture. They have a a character, and a history that commercial sporting arms can not match. A firearm based on a original military design generates a pride in ownership and can become very collectible. In much the same way as a person might choose an expensive sport car or over a economy model, a serious shooter might choose a military style firearm for it superior accuracy, reliability, and technological advanced design. Military firearms are designed and built to perform better, and last longer, and withstand more abuse than all except the most expensive commercial and hunting arms. So in addition to buying a piece of history, purchasing a military style firearm is actually a sound investment in a superior piece of equipment that will likely appreciate in value. Since military style firearms can't be used for hunting, what worth while sporting purpose could anyone find foe a gun like that? The most common use of military style firearms is in the many forms of organized national and international shooting competitions These competitions are sponsored around the world for law abiding citizens to participate in. All of the sanctioned professionally organized events promote the responsible use of military/law enforcement type firearms From rec.guns Thu Mar 26 09:04:15 1992 Path: mdivax1!mdisea!uw-coco!uw- beaver!news.u.washington.edu!usenet.coe.montana.edu!decwrl!m ips!think.com!yale.edu!jvnc.net!darwin.sura.net!haven.umd.ed u!mimsy!optilink.com From: [c--am--r] at [optilink.com] (Clayton Cramer) Newsgroups: rec.guns Subject: Re: Open Carry Message- ID: <[5--0--7] at [mimsy.umd.edu]> Date: 26 Mar 92 13:57:08 GMT Sender: [m--gn--m] at [mimsy.umd.edu] Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA Lines: 269 Approved: [gun control] at [cs.umd.edu] o Article and spreadsheet enclosed. The spreadsheet demonstrates that the statement is incorrect. Police Officers Killed With Assault Rifles Introduction One of the arguments repeatedly used both by Handgun Control and various police organizations to justify bans or restrictions on assault weapons is that these weapons are increasingly being used to murder police officers. A review of the existing literature on the subject shows that, if there is a problem with so-called "assault weapons", the problem is greatly overstated, and is principally a problem of concealable firearms -- not rifles. Definitions "Semiautomatic" means that a gun, when fired, will reload itself and recock the hammer. One bullet is fired for each pull of the trigger; it is not possible to fire multiple shots without multiple pulls of the trigger. When semiautomatic handguns were developed at the turn of the century, hand-held automatic weapons were not yet in existence, and the term "automatic pistol" was commonly used to refer to such handguns. This erroneous terminology is still in common use today. A more accurate description is either "semiautomatic" or "autoloading". These sort of firearms have been in civilian use since before World War I. "Automatic" means that a gun, when fired, will fire bullets until the trigger is released, or the magazine is empty. These sort of firearms have been in civilian use since shortly after World War I, though severe restrictions on ownership by both state and federal governments have been in effect since 1933, with passage of the Federal Firearms Act, and the National Firearms Act. "Assault rifle" has acquired several different meanings. The traditional meaning of this term refers to a rifle intended for battlefield use, capable of both semiautomatic and automatic fire. Because of carelessness by gun magazine writers, the term "assault rifle" has also come to be applied to semiautomatic-only rifles which are derived from, and which have substantial parts interchangeability with true assault rifles. Functionally, these weapons are indistinguishable from semiautomatic hunting weapons like the Remington 7400 or Ruger Mini-14. The only rule that seems to clearly distinguish between "assault rifles" and "semiautomatic detachable magazine hunting rifles" is that hunting rifles have wood stocks, and "assault rifles" have either black plastic or folding stocks. "Machine pistol" refers to a class of weapons which are legally considered pistols (short barrels, no buttstock, intended to be fired one handed). Originally designed as full automatic weapons, many have been redesigned as semiautomatic weapons. The term "machine pistol" is used rather carelessly to refer to both semiautomatic and automatic weapons. Unlike conventional handguns, "machine pistols" are larger, bulkier, and usually come with very large magazines, capable of holding 20-40 rounds. They are only marginally concealable on the person. "Assault weapon" is a term used in a number of laws passed in the United States in the last two years. This term includes many of the semiautomatic "assault rifles" mentioned above, semiautomatic "machine pistols", and a small number of semiautomatic shotguns. From place to place, the definition varies. The Ruger Mini-14, for no apparent reason, is not usually considered an "assault weapon", even though it has a removable magazine, functions reliably with 30 round magazines in it, and shoots the same cartridge as the Colt AR-15 and the H&K 93, which are considered "assault weapons". Weird. "Assault pistol" is a term used by Handgun Control, Inc. to both refer to semiautomatic machine pistols, and to the conventional high capacity 9mm pistols which have become increasingly popular with police departments, criminals, and law-abiding citizens. It is a term that appears intended to confuse by its vagueness, much like "Saturday night special". "Removable magazine", "detachable magazine", "clip": these are all different terms for a box or drum which is designed to be easily removed and replaced with another such magazine in the midst of a gunfight. Detachable magazines have been common in handguns since the turn of the century, and have been in common use in hunting rifles since at least the 1950s. The Sources Used For This Report As part of the Uniform Crime Reports program, the FBI provides an annual report concerning police officers assaulted or murdered during the course of the preceeding calendar year, throughout the United States. This includes local, state, territorial, and federal police officers, including DEA & FBI agents. In addition to the statistical information, a capsule description is included of each incident in which a police officer was feloniously killed. At the time this was written, the 1989 report had not been distributed. Ambiguities Regarding Assault Weapons Regrettably, police murder firearms are not described in the FBI reports in adequate detail to always determine if a weapon would be an "assault weapon" by the rather flexible definitions in common use. Especially in the case of those weapons classified as "machine pistols", it would appear that either the distinction is not consistently maintained in the FBI reports, or the number of "machine pistols" used against police officers during 1986-88 is one -- an incident on September 22, 1986, in which a New York City Transit Authority police officer was murdered. In the case of rifles, the definitional problem is less severe. The "assault rifles" which have been banned in California, and which proposed Federal legislation would ban, are in the following calibers: .223, .308, 9mm, and 7.62x39mm. There are hunting rifles in .223 and .308, but it is usually impossible, based on the FBI reports, to determine whether the rifle used was a hunting rifle, or an "assault rifle". We will assume for the purposes of discussion that any rifle described as "semiautomatic" in these calibers is an "assault rifle" -- and recognize that this will tend to overstate the use of the assault rifles to be banned. Assault Weapons Use In Police Officer Murders The attached table is derived from Table 3, p. 12 of the 1988 FBI report on police officers murdered. The column labelled "Assault Rifles" is derived from the summaries contained within the reports 1986-88, and includes the assumptions mentioned above, which will tend to overstate the use of assault rifles. The column ".22 Rifles" is derived from Table 4 ("Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed, Type and Size of Firearm") of each year's report. The column "Own Gun" includes police officers killed with their own guns (again from Table 4 of each report) -- frequently by criminals who weren't even armed until they disarmed the police officer. Notes & Exclusions On "Assault Rifle" Category 1986 On p. 26, a police officer murdered in Torrance, CA on April 17th, with an "M-1 carbine rifle" is excluded from this category because the M-1 carbine, while banned under California law (at least if made by Plainfield Mfg. Co.), is not subject to ban under the proposed Federal laws. On p. 27, the two FBI agents murdered on April 11th in Miami, FL are excluded because the ".223-caliber semiautomatic rifle" used is known to be a Ruger Mini-14 -- not an "assault weapon" under either California law, or the proposed Federal legislation. 1987 These six murders involve a total of five incidents. On p. 25 of the 1987 report is the nationally reported Palm Bay, FL, shopping plaza killings, in which two police officers were killed. On p. 28 is an incident in which three Inkster, MI police officers were killed, though it appears that only one of the officers was shot with a ".223-caliber rifle". According to the summary, "the two patrolmen were overpowered and disarmed", and were subsequently found, "handcuffed and shot to death". This suggests that the two patrolmen were killed with the handguns possessed by the criminals. On p. 29 is a murder committed with a ".223-caliber fully automatic rifle". This is the only automatic weapon murder listed in these three years of reports -- which suggests that if it is actually that easy to convert an "assault rifle" to a full automatic, not many criminals are using such illegally converted weapons against police officers. 1988 On p. 31 is a murder committed on Februrary 12th in Lansing Park, MI. The weapon is described as a ".44-magnum semiautomatic rifle". None of the proposed bans include such weapons. .22 Rimfire Rifles The reason for the column listed above is very simple. The California Assault Weapons Ban, and all the proposed Federal bans, specifically exclude .22 rimfire rifles from the bans. As can be seen, .22 rimfire rifles were used nearly as often to murder police officers in the period 1986-88 as "assault rifles". Summary The weapons used to murder police officers are depressingly ordinary, not exotic guns only seen in movies. Contrary to some of the recent propaganda that claims that police officers are being outgunned by criminals with high capacity handguns, p. 4 of the 1988 report asserts: The most common types of handguns used against officers in 1988 were the .38 caliber and the .357 magnum. These two weapons jointly accounted for more than half of the handgun deaths. With a few rare exceptions, handguns in .38 and .357 magnum calibers are revolvers -- quite similar to the handguns still issued by most police departments in the United States. As can be seen from the table above, "assault rifles" were used in no more than 5% of the police officer murders in the years 1986-88; they were not even a majority of the murders committed with rifles. Indeed, a police officer is almost four times more likely to be murdered with his own gun than to be murdered with an "assault rifle". The question might be asked whether the costs of enforcing the proposed bans would be better spent on improving weapons retention training for police officers. o -------- Clayton Cramer is a software engineer with a Northern California telecommunications manufacturer. Year, Total, HG, Rifle, SG, Total guns, Knife, Bomb, PW, Other, Assault Rifles, .22 Rifles, Own Gun 1986, 66, 51, 8, 3, 62, 0 ,0 ,0, 4, 0 ,4 ,15 1987, 74, 49, 9, 9, 67, 3 ,0 ,0, 4, 6, 3, 13 1988, 78, 62 ,12, 2, 76 ,0, 0, 0, 2, 5 ,2, 12 Total, 218 ,162 ,29 ,14 ,205 ,3, 0, 0, 10 ,11, 9, 40 -- Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer . From talk.politics.guns Wed Feb 12 09:37:03 1992 Path: mdivax1!van-bc!zaphod.mps.ohio- state.edu!mips!mips!munnari.oz.au!network.ucsd.edu!nosc!cras h!pnet01!dudziak From: [d--z--k] at [pnet01.cts.com] (Matt Dudziak) Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Subject: Why the hysteria over "assault weapons"? Message-ID: <[1992 Feb 12 041609 2637] at [crash.cts.com]> Date: 12 Feb 92 04:16:09 GMT Sender: [n--s] at [crash.cts.com] Organization: People- Net [pnet01], El Cajon CA Lines: 64 o The following is a few excerpts from an article printed in the April 1992 issue of Combat Hanguns magazine, by Ed Siemon. o "The facts are these. First, as pointed out a zillion times to no apparent avail, semi-automatic firearms are NOT "assault weapons." The DOD defines an assault weapon as a firearm capable of selective fire (both automatic and semi- automatic). Such weapons have been stringently controlled in this country since 1934. The guns currently under attack may look like military weapons, but they are not. Mechanically, they are no different from millions of other firearms that have been legally purchased and responsibly used by American citizens since the turn of the century. Further, these firearms are NOT "the guns of choice for criminals." This oft-repeated claim has no basis in reality. Consider the following: o * In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the police reported that of over 5,000 weapons confiscated in a single year, only four or five were semi-automatic "assault-style" firearms. o * In Florida, the legislature established "The Florida Assault Weapons Commission." The Commission was assigned the task of determining the types of firearms that are misused in the commission of crimes in Florida. The eleven-member commission held public hearings and conducted an extensive of all Florida law enforcement agencies covering the period from 1986 through 1989. The survey found that only one-tenth of one percent (.001%) [sic -original author's mistake - should be (.1%)] of firearms-related crime was cimmitted with "military-look-alike" firearms. In fact, not a single Kalashnikov (AK-47) type of semi-automatic rifle was involved in a serious crime during this period! o Data released by the Massachusetts State Police shows that in the period from January 1, 1985 to April 9, 1991, only nine such firearms were involved in shooting incidents. o In Cleveland, Ohio, the police department reports that of some 800 firearms seized in the past year and a half, only about ten could be considered semi-automatic "assault weapons." o In Minneapolis, Minnesota, of 2,200 firearms received by the police department's property section over a two-year period, only nine were "assault rifles." o In Los Angeles, the state that banned 35 models of semi- automatic firearms because they look like military assault weapons, of the 4,000 guns seized in a year, not more than 3% could be classified as "assault weapons." ... The LAPD's ballistics expert, in testimony before Congress, stated that "We take into custody more handguns, more shotguns, more sawed-off shotguns and more .22 calibre rifles than any quantity of so-called assault weapons."" ... The article goes on and on with similar testimonials ... From talk.politics.guns Tue Apr 21 12:36:50 1992 Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Path: mdivax1!mdisea!uw-coco!uw- beaver!cornell!batcomputer!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cis.o hio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio- state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!bb063 From: [bb 063] at [cleveland.Freenet.Edu] (Christopher J. Crobaugh) Subject: The Cox Ass. Rifle "Study" Message-ID: <[1992 Apr 21 104142 21720] at [usenet.ins.cwru.edu]> Sender: [n--s] at [usenet.ins.cwru.edu] Nntp-Posting-Host: cwns1.ins.cwru.edu Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA) Date: Tue, 21 Apr 92 10:41:42 GMT Lines: 347 o ANALYSIS OF THE COX ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION 21 MAY 1989 ARTICLE ON ASSAULT WEAPONS APPENDIX TO TESTIMONY OF JAMES J.BAKER DIRECTOR-FEDERAL AFFAIRS NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON NARCOTICS ABUSE AND CONTROL U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THE RELATIVE LACK OF CRIMINAL MISUSE OF SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES This hearing primarily concerns the sources of supply of small arms to Colombian antigovernment forces and drug traffickers. As noted, the major sources are purchases or theft from the Colombian military and police, and transfer from Communist countries and movements. However, questions have been raised whether semiautomatic, military style rifles are disproportionately misused by drug traffickers and other criminals in the United States itself. As the following demonstrates, such rifles are the least likely type of firearms to be misused criminally. ATF RECORDS REVEAL THAT SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLES ARE RARELY TRACED IN RELATION TO CRIMINAL MISUSE Records of firearms traces conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms contain little or no information of use in connecting specific firearms with specific types of crime. Such records generated in recent months are particularly unreliable in this respect, because BATF has been conducting massive numbers of "forward traces" of semiautomatic firearms to determine ownership, and not due to any criminal misuse. In fact, ATF itself, rather than local police, requests the majority of traces, and the leading reason given for the majority of traces is "miscellaneous" and not some specific crime. The following analysis is based on ATF records disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. The request was for the same records disclosed to the Cox newspapers resulting in publication of its article on "assault type guns." ATF stated about that study: In providing Cox Newspapers access to ATF's trace requests, we provided only normally disclosable information limited to the type of weapon, manufacturer, model, magazine capacity, serial number and type of crime. We do not necessarily agree with the conclusions of Cox Newspapers and need to express that all firearms trace requests submitted by law enforcement agencies are not crime guns and that the 42,000 traces examined are but a small percentage of all firearms recovered by law enforcement during the period. According to the Cox article, the firearms traced by ATF most frequently are handguns. In order of the number traced, they are: the Raven .25 cal. pistol; Smith & Wesson Model 60 .38 cal. revolver; Smith & Wesson Model 36 .38 cal. revolver; Jennings .22 cal. rimfire pistol; and the TEC-9 9mm pistol. Total traces by type of firearm are as follows: Firearm No. traced % of traces Revolver 13,983 33% Pistol 12,424 29% Shotgun 5,493 13% Rifle 5,305 12% "Assault weapon" 4,249 10% "All others" 738 2% Derringer 581 1% Total 42,818 The Cox article states that it reviewed traces of 42,758 firearms covering the period Jan. 1, 1988 through March 27, 1989. Atlanta Journal Constitution, May 21, 1989, A1 et seq. Throughout, the article alleges that the firearms were traced "to crimes," when in fact no crime was specified for the majority of traces. The Cox article used the term "assault weapon" or "assault gun," apparently because the data so totally fails to suggest any disproportionate use of "assault rifles," and to distort the statistics by including certain pistols and shotguns. ATF records disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act include listings of specific firearms traces, showing the requesting agency and the reason for the trace. The raw data reveals that "miscellaneous"--rather than a specific crime-- is the most frequent reason for the trace; that ATF rather than local law enforcement is the most frequent requester; and that most "miscellaneous" traces are initiated by ATF. The reason appears to be that ATF has been "forward tracing" large numbers of semiautomatic firearms just to determine who purchased them and not in relation to any crime. Numerous licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers have revealed to NRA that ATF inspectors have inspected and copied all records on purchasers of semiautomatic firearms allegedly to develop an "end user profile." Whether this program is a fishing expedition or a quasi-registration system, the "miscellaneous" traces are not suggestive of criminal misuse. ATF has confirmed the existence of its "forward tracing" program, but refuses to disclose records about the program under the Freedom of Information Act. Indeed, ATF refused the same inspection rights to ATF data to NRA as it accorded to Cox newspapers based on the following: "Your request to review the same material examined by personnel from the Atlanta Journal is denied. Personnel from the Atlanta Journal had access to ATF forms because they were acting on behalf of ATF at the time of their review. . . ." This contradicts ATF's statement above that "we provided only normally disclosable information" to Cox. A group of ATF records which exhibits the Cox-ATF mutual influence or agreement consists of listings of traces of "bad guns"--selected semiautomatic pistols, rifles, and shotguns of incomparable designs and tremendously different sporting uses, but with the common feature that Senator Metzenbaum does not like them. These are the "assault guns" discussed in the Cox article which were traced during 1988 and the first quarter of 1989. The leading firearms traced were not rifles at all, but were respectively the M10/M11 pistol (773 traced) and the TEC- 9 pistol (767 traced). By contrast, there were only 689 traces of the "AR-15/M-16"--which would include both AR-15 target rifles sold at sporting goods stores, and M-16 machineguns stolen from the U.S. military. There was not a single trace of the Steyr AUG, one of the rifles banned from importation based on the allegation that "assault rifles" were being disproportionately misused in crime. Further, ATF records give no comparison data with ordinary revolvers, pistols, rifles, and shotguns, either in terms of quantities produced or number of traces. Most revealing is the reasons for the traces. For all of the "bad guns" combined--handguns and long guns together--the following are the trace categories: Reason for trace Number traced Percentage of traces Miscellaneous 2,137 43% Property related 663 13% Gun Control Act 525 11% Narcotics 1,078 22% Homicide 348 7% Assaults 176 4% Robbery 60 1% Arson 8 0.2% Sex crimes 3 0.1% Total 4,916 As is clear, 43% of the traces were for "miscellaneous" reasons. These could have included "forward traces" just to check on purchasers, without any suggestion of wrongdoing, as well as lost, found, and abandoned guns. For instance, local police may wish to determine the owner of a found or unclaimed firearm. "Property related" traces, 13% of the total, would include stolen firearms which have been recovered. Local police may be seeking the rightful owners in order to establish proof of burglary and similar crimes as well as to return the property. "Gun Control Act" traces, amounting to 11% of the total, would include every suspected technical violation under the Act. A hobbyist who sold one too many collector's items at a gun show, a licensee whose entire inventory is seized because of a recordkeeping violation, or a person who gave a firearm to a relative who lived in a different state are only some of the innocuous reasons which would prompt traces under the Gun Control Act. "Narcotics" related traces (22% of the total traces) are difficult to interpret. Situations involving such traces could be everything from a first time offender in possession of a small amount of marijuana for personal use who happened to have a firearm in a home where he was arrested, to a major crack or heroin trafficker who is a grave danger to society. Even so, the dangerous trafficker is far more likely to prefer a pistol or revolver of the same type that the police use, than such sporting rifles such as an AR-15 or a Mini 14. The "Homicide" category demonstrates the lack of value of the trace data. Rifles of all kinds are used in only 4% of all homicides, and military-style semiautomatic rifles have been linked to at most 1% of homicides. Of the 348 "bad guns" traced in connection with homicides, the ATF summary fails to distinguish rifles from pistols, or to give comparison data with pistols and revolvers of all kinds. The firearms traced in the Robbery, Arson, and Sex Crimes categories are practically negligible, especially when compared with the numbers of pistols and revolvers of the types used by police. To the extent the Cox/ATF data reveal anything regarding military-style semi-automatic rifles, it is that they are rarely involved in police traces of crime guns. Using data prepared by Smithsonian Institution's Edward C. Ezell regarding the number of various makes and models owned by Americans, police have requested traces on fewer than one- tenth of one percent of such rifles now owned. For example, during the 15-month period, only 105 of 126,000 AK-type semi- automatic rifles were traced in relation to the investigation of violent crimes--just nine one- hundredths of one percent, or roughly one of every 2,000 AK-type semi-automatics owned by Americans. In sum, contrary to the Cox article, very little can be concluded from ATF tracing data, except that ATF itself conducts most traces for "miscellaneous" reasons, such as checking on ordinary citizens who enjoy target shooting with semiautomatic firearms. The overwhelming majority of traces are conducted for reasons unrelated to violent crime, and the overwhelming majority of firearms used in crime are not traced. ACTUAL CRIME DATA DEMONSTRATES THAT SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLES ARE RARELY USED IN CRIME The Cox study found that about 10% of the guns traced were "assault weapons" based on the definition used by the Bush Administration for the import ban and the list in the Metzenbaum bill for domestic firearms, with the number rather higher (a) in Los Angeles and South Florida, and (b) for "narcotics" and "organized crime" traces. The study reported a 46% increase in crime use for these guns between 1987 and 1988, and that the increase was continuing into 1989. If true, that criminal misuse is rising far slower than availability, for ATF affidavits suggest that the importation of such rifles increased 900% in the last two years, while traces less than doubled. ATF is asked to trace only a fraction of the guns used in crime. ATF traced about 35,000 guns, although there were over ten times that many gun-related crimes reported. Clearance rates are not that low, and in fact violent crimes represent only a minority of bases for guns traced. Cox thus found less than 500 so-called "assault weapons" traced in connection with violent crimes, only one tenth of one percent of about 360,000 gun- related violent crimes. Even if most traces were for real crimes, there are so few traces that nothing can be learned from looking at the guns traced. There are about 180,000 gun-related aggravated assaults reported to police annually, half of which were cleared by arrests, but only 1842 assault-related firearms were traced in the 15 month period. Thus, there was a gun traced for only one percent of aggravated assaults. No one can claim the ability to project involvement of a particular type of firearm in crime based on 1% reporting. Moreover, the 1% is an exaggeration, since it would involve all guns seized from someone arrested for an assault for which traces were requested, not necessarily just the firearm used in the assault. Cox claims that only 500,000 such guns are privately owned, based on defining imports as "assault weapons" if on the list of guns temporarily banned from importation and domestic if named in the Metzenbaum bill. But ATF has estimated 2-3 million, and Edward C. Ezell of the Smithsonian Institution estimates about 3- 4 million. If Los Angeles' tendency to trace military lookalikes is typical of law enforcement nationally, and if Los Angeles has 19% lookalikes compared to 10% nationally, then military lookalikes account for about 1 1/2% of "crime guns." If the ATF/Ezell figures are roughly accurate, then military-style semi- autos also account for about 1 1/2% of firearms owned by Americans and are not disproportionately used in crime. It is significant that Los Angeles was the place where Cox found the highest involvement in trace guns to be the so-called "assault weapons," since Los Angeles is also the place where the police looked into guns seized to get a percentage rather than just to guns traced. So-called "assault weapons" account for 3% of crime guns, according to the Los Angeles police, so their accounting for 19% of the guns traced simply demonstrates that police are more apt to trace so-called "assault weapons." Testimony of Detective Jimmy L. Trahin, Firearms/Ballistics Unit, to Subcommittee on Constitution, Senate Judiciary Committee, May 5, 1989. Trahin noted over 4,000 crime guns in Los Angeles, while Cox noted only 2,740 guns traced in the entire state of California. Clearly, the Cox percentage is based primarily on the fact that so-called "assault guns" are more apt to be traced than any others--and by a substantial margin. Indeed, if Los Angeles' 3% leads to 18% of traced guns, then it is possible that the national finding of roughly 10% of trace guns suggests nationally only about 1 1/2% of crime guns. The data suggest rifle use in crime is diminishing. In Florida, for example, between 1987 and 1988, rifle use in homicide fell from 3.9% of homicides to 2.6%, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. In Washington, D.C., where drug trafficking was blamed for a 67% increase in the homicide rate between 1987 and 1988, only one homicide involved a rifle of any kind. In Chicago, 1988 saw more murderers using baseball bats than rifles. The Columbus Police Department has reported on the firearms seized during a period of roughly one year (April 29, 1988, to April 21, 1989) during "crack" raids. The 179 firearms seized--which did not include a single semiautomatic centerfire rifle--were in the following proportions: Revolvers 51% Semiautomatic pistols 30% Shotguns - long barreled, not semiauto 9% Shotguns - sawed off 4% Shotguns - semiauto 1% Rifles - .22 caliber, not semiauto 2% Rifles - .22 caliber semiauto 0.6% Rifles - center fire, not semiauto 0.6% Clearly, rifles of all kinds are the least desirable weapon of criminals, and semiautomatic centerfire rifles are misused far less than ordinary .22 caliber rimfire rifles. Nationally, according to FBI reports, firearms of all kinds accounted for just 4% of the homicides in 1987 and 1988. This represents a drop from the early 1980s, when over 1000 rifle related homicides annually were reported to the FBI. In the years 1986-88, fewer than 800 rifle-related homicides each year were reported to the FBI. The rifle-related homicide rate has dropped 30% during the 1980s, despite dramatic increases in the number of so-called "assault rifles." criminal misuse is rising far slower than availability, for ATF affidavits suggest that the importation of such rifles increased 900% in the last two years, while traces less than doubled. -- Greg Booth BSc />_________________________________ BCAA-PCDHF-BCWF-NFA-NRA-IPSC [########[]_________________________________> /\/\OTOROLA Wireless Data Group, \> I don't speak for Motorola / \Subscriber Products Division, [b--o--h] at [mdd.comm.mot.com]