The divisive issue of instituting a ban on assault weapons faces steep challenges as it attempts to make its way through Congress.

23:38, UK, Wednesday 27 February 2013

Neil Heslin

Dominic Waghorn

US Correspondent

Dominic Waghorn

More than half of Americans want a ban on assault rifles. Police chiefs are lining up on Capitol Hill to demand one. The idea has the president's backing.

But despite all that few expect one to be approved in Congress as things stand.

We have heard emotional pleas from parents of the 20 children gunned down by an assault rifle in Newtown, Connecticut.

Were a ban still in place, most or all of Adam Lanza's victims would still be alive. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests a new ban would save many more lives.

It is true that only a fraction of the tens of thousands of deaths caused by guns in America are caused by assault rifles. The handgun is still the biggest killer by far.

But assault rifles do play a big role in mass shootings, which is what Americans are most worried about.

In the last three decades, 40% of mass shootings have involved an assault rifle and killers using assault rifles and multi-round ammunition clips on average slaughter twice as many people as the rest.

So why is pushing a ban through Congress such a tall order?

It is not because of the strength of argument on the other side. Assault rifle supporters say they are necessary for the self defence of ordinary Americans. But they have yet failed to come up with a single example of a case where an assault rifle saved a life or successfully defended an innocent citizen.

A few weeks ago in a public meeting, Neil Heslin, whose six-year-old son, Jesse, died at Newtown, asked why any ordinary citizen needed an assault rifle. Today he told a Senate hearing he is still waiting for an answer.

Many others have come up with the same question. Assault rifles are not essential for hunting, recreational shooting or anything else. They are primarily offensive weapons designed for the battlefield.

But they are very popular. Sales - aided by aggressive marking - are booming. America's gun industry has seen stagnant growth in other sectors but not with assault rifles and it is keen to safeguard that booming sector.

The gun industry has influence on Capitol Hill through the gun lobby. Senators and congressmen know the National Rifle Association penalises politicians advocating gun control. In many constituencies the NRA's support or opposition can mean the difference between election and losing office.

The gun lobby also has been successful in playing on the fears of ordinary Americans. Gun control advocates from the president down are scrupulous about playing up allegiances to the second amendment - the constitutional right to bear arms.

But their opponents have painted what is a moderate, rational reaction to the slaughter of 20 innocents as a sinister conspiracy to take away Americans' guns. This adds to pressure on politicians to stand their ground.

In 1996 the Australian government banned assault rifles in the wake of a mass shooting and there have been none since. It was able to do so because of overwhelming public support especially in urban areas.

But rural America is far more powerful than its Australian equivalent. And there is not the same clamour for a total ban in the US as there was in Australia.

Public opinion is undoubtedly shifting but that is not being reflected on Capitol Hill, which is unlikely to ban assault rifles for the time being, whatever harm they do.

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