The Federal Bureau of Investigation released its Uniform Crime Report for 2018 on Monday, and the numbers indicate that more people were killed by knives than rifles.
The annual report touts an overall drop in violent crime for the second consecutive year, according to the Bureau’s news release on the numbers. However, the numbers specifically on homicides in the United States offer some insight into America’s ongoing gun control debate.
Due to multiple shooting massacres that took place in August, gun control proponents have once again turned their animus toward semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15. Perhaps the most salient example of this is 2020 Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke’s pledge, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”
New Trump admin envoy says US won’t ‘conquer’ Greenland, emphasizes talks with locals as Denmark balks at move
FBI violent crime arrests double in Trump’s first year compared to Biden record: ‘Massive strides’
Trump admin sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker over laws shielding migrants from courthouse arrests
Trump to deploy 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans in crime crackdown
PA man charged with attempting to make weapons of mass destruction after neighbor tip
Developing: Mass Casualty Event Declared at Pennsylvania Nursing Home After Suspected Gas Explosion – Please Pray
4 indicted in foiled New Year’s Eve terror bombing plot targeting Southern California businesses
Breaking: FBI Confirms Epstein Letter to Larry Nassar Implicating Trump Is a Complete Fake
Texts after Anna Kepner’s mysterious cruise ship death show family scrambling to clamp down on info
Blue City Paradise: Seattle Woman, 75, Now Partially Blind After Board with Screw Protruding Was Slammed Into Her Head – Suspect Arrested 8 Times in 2025 Alone
Christmastime ICE Operation ‘Angel’s Honor’ nets child rapist, torturer
Proceedings paused against ‘Zizian’ murder suspect following competency claims
Florida Woman Arrested, Accused of Executing Both of Her Ex-Husbands on the Same Day
Stacy Garrity’s campaign releases new ominous ad targeting Josh Shapiro
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Boasberg says Trump must provide due process to CECOT migrants
However, as has been the case in previous years, the numbers show that rifles in general — including semi-automatics as well as others — only account for a fraction of a percent of the total homicide rate in the United States.
Here’s what the FBI’s 2018 homicide numbers show us:
- Overall, the number of homicides dropped from 15,195 in 2017 to 14,123 in 2018. The overall number of people murdered with guns dropped as well.
- 10,265 were committed with firearms, out of which handguns accounted for 6,603.
- Rifles were used in 297 homicides, shotguns in 235, and “other guns” in 167.
- 2,963 homicides were listed as “firearms, type not stated.”
What does this show us? According to the available information, rifles accounted for just 2.1 percent of total homicides last year — and 2.9 percent of gun homicides.
New Trump admin envoy says US won’t ‘conquer’ Greenland, emphasizes talks with locals as Denmark balks at move
FBI violent crime arrests double in Trump’s first year compared to Biden record: ‘Massive strides’
Trump admin sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker over laws shielding migrants from courthouse arrests
Trump to deploy 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans in crime crackdown
PA man charged with attempting to make weapons of mass destruction after neighbor tip
Developing: Mass Casualty Event Declared at Pennsylvania Nursing Home After Suspected Gas Explosion – Please Pray
4 indicted in foiled New Year’s Eve terror bombing plot targeting Southern California businesses
Breaking: FBI Confirms Epstein Letter to Larry Nassar Implicating Trump Is a Complete Fake
Texts after Anna Kepner’s mysterious cruise ship death show family scrambling to clamp down on info
Blue City Paradise: Seattle Woman, 75, Now Partially Blind After Board with Screw Protruding Was Slammed Into Her Head – Suspect Arrested 8 Times in 2025 Alone
Christmastime ICE Operation ‘Angel’s Honor’ nets child rapist, torturer
Proceedings paused against ‘Zizian’ murder suspect following competency claims
Florida Woman Arrested, Accused of Executing Both of Her Ex-Husbands on the Same Day
Stacy Garrity’s campaign releases new ominous ad targeting Josh Shapiro
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Boasberg says Trump must provide due process to CECOT migrants
Once again, deaths from knives and “personal weapons” like hands, fists, and feet were higher than the number of homicides committed with rifles. More than five times as many murders were committed with knives (1,515) as with rifles, and more than twice as many people were killed with “personal weapons” (672). Other years included in the FBI report’s table — which spans 2014-2018 — show similar disparities between the same weapon types.
Again, these numbers are just for rifles as a whole. There’s no further breakdown for what kind of action or cosmetic features the rifles had.
But despite the facts, the question of what to do about the AR-15 and other widely used semi-automatic rifles — sometimes referred to as “assault weapons” — will likely remain as one of the main focus points in America’s ongoing debate about guns and the Second Amendment.
Story cited here.
