WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- Gun makers and distributors have said the expiration of the 10-year assault weapons ban last September has not caused a sharp increase in sales.
Many U.S. police departments have also said there has not been any noticeable increase in gun crimes in the months since the expiration, the New York Times reported.
Many gun control advocates have said the pattern confirmed their previous statements that the ban was ineffective. They said assault weapons remained widely available for purchase in the U.S. despite their prohibition.
"The whole time that the American public thought there was an assault weapons ban, there never really was one," said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, a gun-control group.
A Violence Policy Center report said that the 1994 ban exempted more than 1.5 million assault weapons already in private hands, and 1.17 million more assault weapons were produced legally during the next 10 years, taking advantage of loopholes in the law.
