Findings Provide Policymakers a Roadmap to Reduce Gun Violence
Albany, NY — A new report from the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, coordinated by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, finds that while the proportion of mass shootings carried out with an assault-style rifle has held fairly steady over the past 30 years, they are far more deadly than those involving a handgun.
The report, Assault Weapons, Mass Shootings, and Options for Lawmakers, builds on last year’s baseline report, Can Mass Shootings be Stopped? To Address the Problem, We Must Better Understand the Phenomenon, by focusing on the role of assault-style rifles in mass shootings from 1966 to 2016. The report finds:
+ Mass shootings have steadily increased each year over the 50 years examined.
+ The use of assault-style rifles in mass shootings has increased, but it has not outpaced the use of other types of weapons, particularly handguns. Of the 340 mass shootings from 1966 to 2016, 67 — about 20 percent — involved assault-style rifles. That percentage has held relatively steady since about 1990.
+ Mass shootings involving assault-style weapons are more lethal. On average, they result in 5.7 deaths and 7.6 injuries; shootings without assault weapons, on average, result in 2.9 deaths and 3.2 injuries.
“With so much attention focused on assault rifles, it’s critically important that we separate fact from perception in the policymaking process,” said Jim Malatras, president of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. “This new analysis establishes what we know from 50 years of mass shootings in the US: Assault rifles are not suddenly more popular than other kinds of weapons, but they are much more deadly, and deserve scrutiny. Policymakers seeking to address the problem need to start with these facts.”
In outlining options for policymakers, the report examines the effects of the federal assault weapons ban of 1994-2004. During this period, shootings involving assault weapons accounted for 16 percent of all mass shootings, compared to 21 percent in the decade prior — a drop of one-quarter.
The author also notes that any effective approach to reducing mass shootings, and gun violence more broadly, must consider a mix of policies. More robust background checks, red flag laws, closing gun show loopholes, reducing straw purchases, and better mental health services all play an important role in preventing gun-related violence.
The report was written by Jaclyn Schildkraut, associate professor of criminal justice at SUNY Oswego, a member of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, and a national expert on mass shootings.
About the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium
The Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, coordinated by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, is a program of States for Gun Safety, a coalition of six states and Puerto Rico that aims to disrupt the cycle of firearm-involved mass shootings, homicides, suicides, and accidents.
The Consortium brings together 50 researchers (and growing) from across the States for Gun Safety coalition, as well as additional midwestern states, in an effort to reduce violence involving firearms through interdisciplinary research and analysis. Learn more at rockinst.org/gun-violence.
About the Rockefeller Institute of Government
The Rockefeller Institute of Government is the public policy research arm of the State University of New York. The Institute conducts fiscal and programmatic research on American state and local governments. Learn more at www.rockinst.org.