News Opinons Politics Second Amendment

The FBI’s Annual Crime Report Is Out, and The Anti-Gun Crowd Won’t Like It

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.”



Jay Jones text scandal sparks donation surge as GOP group pours millions more into VA race
Leftist club smears Charlie Kirk on campus flyers spotted ahead of their event honoring George Floyd instead
Accused Charlie Kirk assassin wants to ditch jail clothes for upcoming court appearances
‘Devastating Blast’ Levels Military Explosives Plant, Multiple Deaths and Missing People Reported
Palisades Fire suspect made anti-Trump social media posts, blamed climate change for causing wildfires
Trump Threatens ‘Massive’ Tariff Increase in Response to China’s ‘Sinister and Hostile Move’
Bondi announces arrest of far-left activist who threatened commentator Benny Johnson
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dedicates Her Victory to President Trump
Businesses supporting Jay Jones largely silent following controversies
Finding Francine: Lowe’s Employs Latest Technology to Bring Missing Store Mascot Back Home
Pressure mounts for investigations into mismanagement of Lachman and Palisades Fires
Scalise leads GOP fight at SCOTUS to stop ‘radical’ left’s ‘war on American energy’
Blue state in the hot seat after ICE busts Illegal immigrant with ‘NO NAME GIVEN’ on license
White House Responds After Trump Misses Out on Nobel Peace Prize: ‘Politics Over Peace’
Spanberger excoriated online as a ‘coward’ for refusal to ditch ‘unhinged’ Jay Jones
See also  Taylor Swift breaks silence on Super Bowl halftime rumors as Bad Bunny pick draws backlash

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.


Jay Jones text scandal sparks donation surge as GOP group pours millions more into VA race
Leftist club smears Charlie Kirk on campus flyers spotted ahead of their event honoring George Floyd instead
Accused Charlie Kirk assassin wants to ditch jail clothes for upcoming court appearances
‘Devastating Blast’ Levels Military Explosives Plant, Multiple Deaths and Missing People Reported
Palisades Fire suspect made anti-Trump social media posts, blamed climate change for causing wildfires
Trump Threatens ‘Massive’ Tariff Increase in Response to China’s ‘Sinister and Hostile Move’
Bondi announces arrest of far-left activist who threatened commentator Benny Johnson
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dedicates Her Victory to President Trump
Businesses supporting Jay Jones largely silent following controversies
Finding Francine: Lowe’s Employs Latest Technology to Bring Missing Store Mascot Back Home
Pressure mounts for investigations into mismanagement of Lachman and Palisades Fires
Scalise leads GOP fight at SCOTUS to stop ‘radical’ left’s ‘war on American energy’
Blue state in the hot seat after ICE busts Illegal immigrant with ‘NO NAME GIVEN’ on license
White House Responds After Trump Misses Out on Nobel Peace Prize: ‘Politics Over Peace’
Spanberger excoriated online as a ‘coward’ for refusal to ditch ‘unhinged’ Jay Jones
See also  Comey makes history as first former FBI director to face arraignment

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.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter