WATCH: Lindsey Graham does photo-op with AR-15 to push assault weapon ownership

On Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tweeted a short video of himself firing an AR-15 style assault weapon.

"In 1994, there was an Assault Weapons Ban – the evidence indicates that there was really no change at all in crime, because the crooks are going to get a gun!" wrote Graham. "Today at @PalmettoArmory I fired one of the weapons they are trying to ban."

Watch below:

Evidence is inconclusive whether the 1994 assault weapons ban, which was in place for a decade before expiring, significantly impacted crime rates in general, which were already declining at the time due to a variety of factors. One specific type of crime, however, does appear to have declined as a result of the ban: mass shootings.

The House recently passed a pair of gun bills: one that would expand background checks to some types of private purchases, and one that would close the loophole that lets criminals purchase guns if their background check doesn't finish in time. Both of these face difficult challenges in the Senate.

These bills do not include a ban on assault-style weapons like the AR-15, although there is a renewed push for this after the recent Boulder and Atlanta shootings.