“Fox & Friends” wasted no time attacking those who are cheering New Zealand‘s quick and logical response to the terror attack it suffered less than a week ago. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced overnight that she has banned all assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic weapons after a white supremacist massacred 50 people.
Fox News’ Jedediah Bila used a tweet from Senator Bernie Sanders to falsely claim the “vast majority” of Americans use assault weapons, and to decry the use of the term because it “offends” gun advocates.
“Let me just jump in and say that term ‘assault weapons’ offends many Second Amendment advocates across the country. Semi-automatic weapons are used by a vast majority of people in this country to protect themselves.”
Currently, there are an estimated 15 to 20 million assault weapons in the U.S. and 327 million people in America, so “a vast majority of people in this country” do not use assault weapons to protect themselves.
Also, as Media Matters’ Bobby Lewis noted, the term “assault rifle” or “assault weapon” was invented by gun manufacturers, “in order to sell more guns.”
Media Matters produced a lengthy history on assault weapons including the usage of the term.
When asked about “approaches to prevent mass shootings at schools,” Gallup reports 56 percent of Americans say they support “Banning the sale of semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15.”