The real reason Congress banned assault weapons in 1994 — and why it worked
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...why-it-worked/
But the 1994 assault weapons ban was never intended to be a comprehensive fix for “gun violence” writ large. Its purpose, according to gun violence experts and the lawmakers who wrote the bill, was to reduce the frequency and lethality of mass shootings like the ones in Parkland, Sandy Hook and elsewhere. And on that front, the data shows it had a significant impact.
Klarevas has compiled data on gun massacres involving six or more fatalities for the 50 years before 2016. His numbers show that
gun massacres fell significantly during the time the assault weapons ban was in place, and skyrocketed after the ban lapsed in 2004. A separate mass shooting database compiled by Mother Jones magazine shows a similar trend.