New DOJ Survey Results Throw Cold Water on Universal Background Checks, ‘Assault Weapon’ Ban

Democrats didn’t waste any time proposing a universal background check bill and an “assault weapons” ban when they took control of the U.S. House, but a newly released survey from the Department of Justice indicates (once again) that neither policy is likely to reduce crime.

The 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates (SPI) found that the vast majority (about 90 percent) of state and federal prisoners obtained their firearms using methods that would not be affected by the background check legislation being proposed by Congress. Additionally, the survey confirmed that despite the massive proliferation of semi-automatic rifles in the past decade, only 1.5 percent of all inmates even possessed a rifle during the commission on a crime.

Twenty-one percent of all state and federal inmates reported possessing a firearm when they committed the offense for which they were convicted, but only 13 percent actually used the firearm by showing, pointing, or discharging it.

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