CNN is running another junk science poll, this time on whether the federal assault weapons ban should be lifted or extended. The poll is of course invalid, because it’s based on a self-selected sample — yet its results will be available on the CNN site, and I’m sure some people will think it’s accurate.
I think the assault weapons ban is a bad idea; even Tom Diaz, of the strongly pro-gun-control Violence Policy Center, acknowledges that “If the existing assault weapons ban expires, I personally do not believe it will make one whit of difference one way or another” in “reducing death and injury.” Likewise, as I wrote last year,
ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN: Jacob Sullum at Reason’s Hit & Run writes:
The “assault weapon” ban is important as a precedent precisely because its justification is so slight. It suggests that you don’t need a good reason to limit Second Amendment rights. It also invites further infringements down the road, as supporters take the critics’ arguments to heart and start arguing that the ban is not broad enough. After all, it covers only a very small percentage of the guns used in crimes.
I’m actually not sure that the assault weapons ban does violate the Second Amendment (for complex reasons that I lack the time to go into, but that are indeed based on the very slight actual burden that it itself imposes on people’s ability to be armed), but the general point is quite right. (The reason the justification is so slight is that, as Sullum points out, the law “ban[s] weapons based on little more than their militaristic appearance. As [Rep. Ron] Paul notes, the guns covered by the law are not true assault rifles, which are capable of automatic fire. The banned weapons are semi-automatic guns, firing once per trigger pull, that are neither especially dangerous nor especially favored by criminals.”) And if you’re inclined to pooh-pooh the slippery slope argument here, consider what Charles Krauthammer, a proponent of a total gun ban says:
In fact, the assault weapons ban will have no significant effect either on the crime rate or on personal security. Nonetheless, it is a good idea . . . . Its only real justification is not to reduce crime but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation.
If you agree with me on this, please go here and vote in the “QuickVote” box. (If the results end up being anti-assault-weapon-ban, I certainly wouldn’t endorse pushing the results as accurate data, either. But right now they’re lopsidedly pro-ban; perhaps if they even out in some measure, neither side will end up making much out of this, and the data will end up being ignored, as it should be.)
If you don’t agree with me on this, why, just pretend you didn’t read this post. You don’t need to see that Web page. This is not the poll you are looking for. Move along.
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