Should the United States ban firearms?

Claim: I believe firearms should should be a private matter and the government should keep its nose out of. The fact that assault weapons are illegal in California makes no sense to me. Citation: *12280, 12285 2008 assault weapons dangerous weapons control laws bureau of firearms-california dept of justice-office of attorney general

Quotation: *legal to possess, import, or purchase assault weapons and .50 BMG rifles, unless such weapons were acquired by the owner prior to June 1, 1989. Legally defined assault weapons and .50 BMG rifles listed by make and model by the DOJ must be registered. Their sale and transfer is prohibited. Military look-alike rifles that are not chambered for .50 BMG and are not on the DOJ roster are legal to purchase or possess, with some restrictions in configuration known as "banned features." Active-duty military members residing out of state and assigned to duty in California may bring personally-owned assault weapons into the state. The military member's residence must be in a state that permits private citizens to own and possess assault weapons, and the firearms must be registered with the California Department of Justice prior to the servicemember's arrival in California by submitting the registration form with a copy of the member's Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. Claim: Its not like assault rifles are the cause of homicides involving a weapon or even the source of mass murders (terrorist attacks, school shootings.etc.)

Citation: http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcassaul.html

Quotation: **Assault weapons are used in about one-fifth of one percent (.20%) of all violent crimes and about one percent in gun crimes. It is estimated that from one to seven percent of all homicides are committed with assault weapons (rifles of any type are involved in three to four percent of all homicides). However a higher percentage are used in police homicides, roughly ten percent. (There has been no consistent trend in this rate from 1978 through 1996.) Between 1992 and 1996 less than 4% of mass murders, committed with guns, involved assault weapons. (Our deadliest mass murders have either involved arson or bombs.)

Assault weapons should be banned from the public and being in possession of such items should be strictly limited to military and special law enforcement units such as : swat, dea.etc. CITATION: Statement of LAUREL G. BELLOWS President on behalf of the AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION for the record of the hearing on WHAT SHOULD AMERICA DO ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE? before the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. SENATE ,January 30, 2013

QUOTATION: The availability of assault weapons and high-capacity clips should be limited to the U.S. military, the National Guard and law enforcement. The firearms used in these recent massacres are weapons of war. They are weapons designed to kill the maximum number of people in the shortest period of time.