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FLA Senator Bill Nelson simply invents statistics in calling for AR ban

Story here. He's quoted as saying

"Florida lawmakers, like U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, want stricter laws to fix the so-called "gun show loophole," which allows people to buy a gun at one of these events without getting a background check.

Not only that, Nelson is also calling for a ban on assault weapons, saying murders were down after they were banned back in 1994.

"Before that law, they were high and after that law, when the NRA killed the law in 2004, the number of deaths as a result of assault weapons has grown up like a rocket taking off," he says."

Let's get real. There are no national records on "assault rifle" use. The FBI only breaks firearm homicides down into rifle, pistol, shotgun, other. All rifle uses are lumped together. The overall and gun homicide rates did begin to fall in 1994, and continued to fall after the "assault weapon ban" expired in 2004. Since rifles of all types are used in about 300 homicides per year, it is impossible to claim that AW deaths have "grown up like a rocket." In fact, in 2004 there were 393 total rifle homicides and in 2016 374.

I've seen this quite often. An advocate of gun control need only invent data (i.e., lie), proclaim it, and expect the press to publish it without any fact-checking.