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.”
Florida county’s Democratic Party chair accused of hitting man in head with bullhorn at ‘No Kings’ protest
Trump reveals first look at presidential library in Miami
Teacher of the Year finalist gets 14 years for sexual relationship with student she kept contacting
Top Ten King-Like Things Barack Obama Did That Democrats Had No Problem With
Fugitive illegal alien convict on the run after attempting to strike ICE officer with vehicle: DHS
Charlie Kirk Memorial Bill Vetoed by Swing-State Dem Governor Who Said It Didn’t ‘Bring People Together’
DHS slams California ‘sanctuary’ county after mom allegedly murdered by 2 Honduran nationals
Jayapal floats reparations for illegal immigrants impacted by Trump crackdown, demands prosecutions
Opinion: Is It Just Me, or Is the World Finally Starting to Feel Normal Again?
Pam Bondi Announces the DOJ Is Suing Tim Walz’s Minnesota
Woman dies after falling from 60-foot cliff along popular Smoky Mountains trail
Video shows police drone track down madman after alleged rampage with stabbing, shooting, crash into store
Rep Rashida Tlaib moves to block US operations in Lebanon but ignores Hezbollah
Trump’s TSA Executive Order Appears to Have Had Immediate Impact at Busiest Airports
Trump Reveals New White House Ballroom Will Have a ‘Massive,’ Hidden Military Purpose
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.
Florida county’s Democratic Party chair accused of hitting man in head with bullhorn at ‘No Kings’ protest
Trump reveals first look at presidential library in Miami
Teacher of the Year finalist gets 14 years for sexual relationship with student she kept contacting
Top Ten King-Like Things Barack Obama Did That Democrats Had No Problem With
Fugitive illegal alien convict on the run after attempting to strike ICE officer with vehicle: DHS
Charlie Kirk Memorial Bill Vetoed by Swing-State Dem Governor Who Said It Didn’t ‘Bring People Together’
DHS slams California ‘sanctuary’ county after mom allegedly murdered by 2 Honduran nationals
Jayapal floats reparations for illegal immigrants impacted by Trump crackdown, demands prosecutions
Opinion: Is It Just Me, or Is the World Finally Starting to Feel Normal Again?
Pam Bondi Announces the DOJ Is Suing Tim Walz’s Minnesota
Woman dies after falling from 60-foot cliff along popular Smoky Mountains trail
Video shows police drone track down madman after alleged rampage with stabbing, shooting, crash into store
Rep Rashida Tlaib moves to block US operations in Lebanon but ignores Hezbollah
Trump’s TSA Executive Order Appears to Have Had Immediate Impact at Busiest Airports
Trump Reveals New White House Ballroom Will Have a ‘Massive,’ Hidden Military Purpose
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.
