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.”
Text Messages Between Cornell Jane Doe and Alleged Attacker Turn Case on Its Head
Biden DOJ officials warned their school board investigation resembled ‘Anti-MAGA Task Force’
Muslim Flydubai Hijack Suspect Cited Quran, Repeatedly Called for Women to Be Abused, Slapped, Bashed in Head
Biden-era FBI tracked Trump family travel and Wiles’ calls with lawyers in secret probe: docs
Epstein survivor family claims GOP lawmaker’s staff ignored meeting request
El Sayed denies that Schumer PAC money will influence him in Washington
Supreme Court begins new term with high-profile look at clean air and federal authority
Christa Pike’s Attorney Calls for Death Penalty to Be ‘Taken Off the Table’ After Botched Execution Attempt
Furious Trump Partially Doxxes AR Sen. Tom Cotton, Sharing His Reported Cell Number to the Entire World
Emerging tech has new Army leaders warning troops can’t ‘AI’ their way to victory on the battlefield
‘American Idol’ alum Caleb Flynn weeps as daughters ask him why he killed their mother, vow not to visit him
Biden’s ‘anti-MAGA task force’ sparked internal alarm across DOJ, new report shows
El-Sayed Insider Comes Forward With Massive Amount of Dirt, from Insane Lies to Schoolboy Fascination With Gas
Florida student killed in rollover school bus crash
Yemeni government says it recaptured Bab el Mandeb Strait
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.
Text Messages Between Cornell Jane Doe and Alleged Attacker Turn Case on Its Head
Biden DOJ officials warned their school board investigation resembled ‘Anti-MAGA Task Force’
Muslim Flydubai Hijack Suspect Cited Quran, Repeatedly Called for Women to Be Abused, Slapped, Bashed in Head
Biden-era FBI tracked Trump family travel and Wiles’ calls with lawyers in secret probe: docs
Epstein survivor family claims GOP lawmaker’s staff ignored meeting request
El Sayed denies that Schumer PAC money will influence him in Washington
Supreme Court begins new term with high-profile look at clean air and federal authority
Christa Pike’s Attorney Calls for Death Penalty to Be ‘Taken Off the Table’ After Botched Execution Attempt
Furious Trump Partially Doxxes AR Sen. Tom Cotton, Sharing His Reported Cell Number to the Entire World
Emerging tech has new Army leaders warning troops can’t ‘AI’ their way to victory on the battlefield
‘American Idol’ alum Caleb Flynn weeps as daughters ask him why he killed their mother, vow not to visit him
Biden’s ‘anti-MAGA task force’ sparked internal alarm across DOJ, new report shows
El-Sayed Insider Comes Forward With Massive Amount of Dirt, from Insane Lies to Schoolboy Fascination With Gas
Florida student killed in rollover school bus crash
Yemeni government says it recaptured Bab el Mandeb Strait
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.
