Time August 19, 2019in one Weekend, 31 people Were murdered
and dozens more injured in two mass shootings just
hours apart in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
The death toll may still grow. The shooters killed
the young and old, men and women. In El Paso, the
white-nationalist shooter’s intent was to claim as
many Latino lives as possible. In both cities, the vic-
tims had their tomorrows taken or their futures for-
ever altered by domestic terrorists as they shopped
or enjoyed an evening out— everyday activities we
all expect to pursue in safety. And in both cases, the
gunmen used military-style assault weapons that
were purchased legally.
America is reacting as we have come to expect in
the wake of mass shootings. Thoughts and prayers
are offered, as they should be. Communities come
together, as they should, in vigils to remember those
lost and injured and to remind ourselves that we
shouldn’t keep letting this happen. Elected officials
speak about the need for change. But the tragedies
do keep happening, while the one thing that we
know can reduce the number and the death tolls of
mass shootings has not been done: reinstituting the
ban on assault weapons and the limit on high-capac-
ity magazines that was in effect from 1994 to 2004.
Assault weapons are designed to inflict maxi-
mum harm in a short period of time. A 2015 study
by Everytown for Gun Safety found that shootings
where assault weapons were used resulted in 155%
more people shot and 47% more people killed
than gun incidents with other types of weapons. It
should come as no surprise that when we see high
death and injury totals, from Sandy Hook to Las
Vegas to Parkland to El Paso to Dayton, the killers
have used these weapons. The Dayton killer shot
41 bullets in 30 seconds before the police got him.
He killed nine people and wounded 14 others, al-
most one victim per second.
I worked hard to pass and was proud to sign the
ban on these weapons of war into law, and the re-
sults were clear: mass shooting fatalities declined
while they were in effect and have risen sharply
since they were allowed to lapse.
FoR too long, America has allowed a deter-
mined, well-financed group to pretend to grieve
with us while spreading paranoia among those
who responsibly use guns for hunting, sport shoot-
ing and self-protection. For too long, the gun lobby
and their elected allies have stalled, deflected and
changed the conversation until the pressure abates
and they can get back to business, heedless of the
REINSTATE THE ASSAULT-
WEAPONS BAN NOW
By Bill Clinton
VIEWPOINTS
President Clinton signs
the Violent Crime
Control and Law
Enforcement Act at
the White House on
Sept. 13, 1994