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.”
Trump’s new tariff plan barrels back to court following multistate lawsuit
Black Democrats Unleash on Jasmine Crockett After Embarrassing Primary Loss
Trump’s new DHS pick is an illegal immigration hawk who’s ‘all about the mission’: expert
White Police Officers Sue Philadelphia Over DEI Promotions, Say They Were Passed Over for Political Reasons
Kristi Noem’s ouster ‘changes nothing’ for Democrats blocking DHS funding
NORAD Launches US Fighter Jets as Russian Military Aircraft Enter American Air Defense Identification Zone
Virginia Dems mandate Jan. 6 be taught as ‘violent insurrection,’ ban election fraud claims in schools
Trump Turns Up Heat on Republicans, Pressures Them to Pass SAVE Act: ‘Country Defining Fight for the Soul of Our Nation!’
Pentagon policy chief grilled as Dem claims Trump broke promise about going to war with Iran
Georgia sheriff arrested on DUI charge after blood alcohol content was allegedly almost triple legal limit
Small plane crashes into Phoenix home minutes after takeoff, injuring 3
‘Third-party’ auditor investigating Minnesota fraud received millions in state Medicaid funds
Macron vows nuclear arsenal boost as Europe turns to nukes amid rising global threats
‘Under siege’: Inside the growing radical Islam threat critics say is hiding in plain sight in deep red Texas
Walz-Ellison administration ‘enabled’ Minnesota’s fraud scandal: Guy Benson
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.
Trump’s new tariff plan barrels back to court following multistate lawsuit
Black Democrats Unleash on Jasmine Crockett After Embarrassing Primary Loss
Trump’s new DHS pick is an illegal immigration hawk who’s ‘all about the mission’: expert
White Police Officers Sue Philadelphia Over DEI Promotions, Say They Were Passed Over for Political Reasons
Kristi Noem’s ouster ‘changes nothing’ for Democrats blocking DHS funding
NORAD Launches US Fighter Jets as Russian Military Aircraft Enter American Air Defense Identification Zone
Virginia Dems mandate Jan. 6 be taught as ‘violent insurrection,’ ban election fraud claims in schools
Trump Turns Up Heat on Republicans, Pressures Them to Pass SAVE Act: ‘Country Defining Fight for the Soul of Our Nation!’
Pentagon policy chief grilled as Dem claims Trump broke promise about going to war with Iran
Georgia sheriff arrested on DUI charge after blood alcohol content was allegedly almost triple legal limit
Small plane crashes into Phoenix home minutes after takeoff, injuring 3
‘Third-party’ auditor investigating Minnesota fraud received millions in state Medicaid funds
Macron vows nuclear arsenal boost as Europe turns to nukes amid rising global threats
‘Under siege’: Inside the growing radical Islam threat critics say is hiding in plain sight in deep red Texas
Walz-Ellison administration ‘enabled’ Minnesota’s fraud scandal: Guy Benson
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.
