Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) claims the 1994 “assault weapons” ban prevented massacres but the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) reported the ban could not be credited with any reduction in crime.

Murphy’s claim was part of a larger attack on President Trump, wherein the Connecticut Senator was trying to place blame for mass shootings at Trump’s feet.

Murphy tweeted:

The Crime Bill included a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. It prevented countless massacres. You are in the pocket of the gun lobby and have allowed these mass slaughters to happen just to protect a political ally. THAT is what you’re responsible for. https://t.co/RaWCyx4W1p — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 28, 2019

Two things need to be noted. First, Murphy’s emphasis on banning “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines was a bait and switch, whereby he tries to shift the focus off black incarcerations resulting from the Democrats’ 1994 Crime Bill.

Secondly, Murphy’s claim about the effectiveness of the “assault weapons” ban is demonstrably false. The DOJ’s NIJ released a report showing the ban’s effects were negligible at best.

The Washington Times quoted University of Pennsylvania professor Christopher Koper, author of the NIJ report, saying, “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence.”

The April 20, 1999, Columbine High School massacre occurred while the “assault weapons” ban was in still in effect.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.