Thread by @LisaZDunn

The @HouseJudiciary hearing on so-called "assault weapons" has ended and I have a few thoughts (in no particular order). First, you can watch the full hearing here: judiciary.house.gov/legislation/he… @GunsReporting

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting 2/ The @HouseJudiciary cmte heard from 7 witnesses today, including:
✅the Charlottesville, VA police chief
✅an #ElPaso, TX trauma doc @TTUHSC
✅#Dayton, OH Mayor @nanwhaley
✅Pro shooter @Di_3GunGirl
✅A Former @ATFHQ agent

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting @TTUHSC @nanwhaley @Di_3GunGirl @ATFHQ 3/ The cmte did not hear from Christopher Koper, a criminology prof @GeorgeMasonU who is a noted expert on the "Assault Weapons Ban," which was in place in the U.S. from 1994 - 2004: govtrack.us/congress/bills…

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting @TTUHSC @nanwhaley @Di_3GunGirl @ATFHQ @GeorgeMasonU 4/ Koper was tasked by the Nat'l Institute of Justice @DOJPH with studying the effectiveness of the 10-yr ban. You can read his full 2004 report here: ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/…

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting @TTUHSC @nanwhaley @Di_3GunGirl @ATFHQ @GeorgeMasonU @DOJPH 5/ Among the key findings of Koper's study were:
▶️Gun crimes w/"assault weapons"⬇️but that decline was offset by criminals substituting other, legal weapons to commit crimes
▶️The grandfathering-in clause of the AWB meant that gradual effects could not be measured

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting @TTUHSC @nanwhaley @Di_3GunGirl @ATFHQ @GeorgeMasonU @DOJPH 6/ Koper wrote in 2004 that "Those effects [of the ban] are still unfolding and may not be fully felt for several years into the future...It is thus premature to make definitive assessments of the ban’s impact on gun violence."

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting @TTUHSC @nanwhaley @Di_3GunGirl @ATFHQ @GeorgeMasonU @DOJPH 7/ But what abt the ban's impact on mass shootings? There haven't been many studies on this but one from Louis Klarevas @UMassBoston in 2016 cited by @SenFeinstein found that the gun massacres during the ban⬇️by 37 percent:

https://twitter.com/_cingraham/status/968956910446592001

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting @TTUHSC @nanwhaley @Di_3GunGirl @ATFHQ @GeorgeMasonU @DOJPH @UMassBoston @SenFeinstein 8/ But a recent study by @RANDCorporation found "inconclusive evidence" that "assault weapons" bans ⬇️ mass shootings or violent crime: rand.org/research/gun-p…

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting @TTUHSC @nanwhaley @Di_3GunGirl @ATFHQ @GeorgeMasonU @DOJPH @UMassBoston @SenFeinstein @RANDCorporation 9/ However, Christopher Koper has continued to study "assault weapons" and some research he pubbed in June 2018 in the Journal of Urban Health may be of interest to the @HouseJudiciary & @RepThompson: link.springer.com/article/10.100…

@HouseJudiciary @GunsReporting @TTUHSC @nanwhaley @Di_3GunGirl @ATFHQ @GeorgeMasonU @DOJPH @UMassBoston @SenFeinstein @RANDCorporation @RepThompson 10/ That study found that while so-called "assault weapons" still account for <7% of #guns used in all crimes,
▶️"assault weapons" are used in up to 57% of firearm mass murders; and
▶️Semi-automatic rifles account for 16% of the guns used in murders of #Police
@GunsReporting