Rep. Ilhan Omar Votes for Assault Weapons Ban

Press Release

Today, Rep. Ilhan Omar voted to protect Minnesota communities and save lives by voting to ban assault weapons. The Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 would prohibit the sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and high capacity magazines. These weapons are designed to inflict wounds that are more lethal and injurious than the wounds inflicted by non-assault weapons.

"Gun violence is the leading killer of children in our nation," said Rep. Omar. "Not only are we witnessing a regular drumbeat of horrific mass shootings, but our communities are experiencing daily gun violence that rarely makes the headlines. Today, the House took bold action to help stop the bloodshed in Minnesota and in communities across the country by banning assault weapons. Assault weapons are the weapons of choice for mass shooters. The Uvalde, Buffalo, El Paso, Parkland, Las Vegas, Sandy Hook shooters all had one thing in common: they all used AR-15 style assault rifles. These weapons of war have no place on our streets."

On September 13, 1994, President Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which included the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994. The United States then had an Assault Weapons Ban from 1994 to 2004, when it expired. Efforts to renew the ban failed at that time.

Studies have found that the number of deaths and injuries from mass public shootings was significantly reduced during the 1994-2004 Assault Weapons Ban. The likelihood of mass shooting deaths fell by 70 percent when the 1994-2004 Assault Weapons Ban was in effect. Criminals committed from 32 percent to 40 percent fewer gun crimes with assault weapons while the 1994-2004 Assault Weapon Ban was in effect.

When the ban expired, the total number of mass shooting deaths increased by 483 percent. The average number of active shooter incidents per year increased by 315 percent from 2000 to 2004 compared with 2005 to 2021. The average number of people killed from active shooter incidents per year increased by 312 percent from the ban years of 2000-2004 compared with the past-ban period of 2005-2021. After the Assault Weapons Ban expired in 2004, the number of guns manufactured annually in the United States surged from approximately 3 million in 2004 to over 11 million in 2020. In 2004, there were approximately 9 million FBI background checks for the purchase of guns. In 2021, there were almost 40 million FBI background checks for the purchase of guns.

Gun violence in America is responsible for more than 45,000 deaths
per year, including 513 in Minnesota alone. Every day, 30 Americans are murdered with a gun -- a number that rises to more than 100 when counting suicides and accidental shootings. In addition to this daily loss of life, gun violence continues to inflict a heavy financial burden -- imposing $2.8 billion in emergency room and inpatient costs on Americans each year.

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