Homicides and other violent crimes fall in 2004 despite elimination of so-called Assault Weapon Ban

So much for "anti-gun hysterics" and predictions of "blood running in the streets," a Second Amendment group says.

Nine months after the Clinton-era "assault weapons ban" expired, the FBI has released crime statistics showing a drop in homicides in 2004 -- the first such drop since 1999. The FBI report said all types of violent crime declined last year, and cities with more than a million people showed the largest drops in violent crime.

The FBI data can be seen here.