FBI Crime Stats: You are more likely to be killed by hands and feet than by a shotgun or rifle

he FBI has released their 2007-2011 “Murder Victims by Weapon” report. The results are contradictory to anti-gun industry claims that relaxing the ban on assault weapons will cause more crime.

The report indicates you are more likely to be killed by hands or feet than by a rifle or shotgun.

Since 2007 there has been a 16.2% decline in murders committed with personal weapons which are defined as “hands, fists, feet etc.” The number of murders of this type in 2011 totaled 728.

While gun ownership has dramatically increased since 2007, murders for both the shotgun and rifle categories have seen declines faster than the rate of personal weapons related crime.

The rates of decline for the shotgun and rifle categories are 22.1% and 28.7% respectively. In 2011 there were 356 shotgun murders and 323 rifle murders for a total of 679 murders.

Total murders by hands and feet in 2011 exceed the total number of murders by shotgun and rifle. Does that mean gloves and shoes need regulation because they are concealing deadly weapons? No, but it does mean that there is no need for any further regulation of long arms.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/27/fbi-crime-stats-you-are-more-likely-to-be-killed-by-hands-and-feet-than-by-a-shotgun-or-rifle/#ixzz2FOWtiqT8

In 2011 here were 6,220 people killed with handguns. In 2011 there were 1,694 people murdered with various cutting instruments i.e. knives.meanwhile, 323 people were killed with rifles. The FBI does not differentiate between assault rifles and any other rifles i.e. lever action hunting rifles, single shot african big game rifles, bolt action deer rifles, 22 rimfire rifles, etc. This means the number of people killed by assault weapons in 2011 was probably less than 20-possibly less than 10. Possibly none.

While there was no shortage of mass murder by gunfire in 2011, the only one using an assault rifle that I can recall was the Norway shooting. As God awful as that was, that was Norway.

As terrible as the events in Connecticut were, this kind of thing represents only the tiniest fraction of the murders occurring in America. We're talking in the neighborhood of 0.2% to 0.5% of all murders. So why are we talking about banning assault rifles when it is clear that handguns are the real weapons of mass destruction?

These facts do not lie and based on these facts it is clear that banning assault weapons WILL NOT DO A DAMN THING TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF MURDER IN AMERICA. IT. WILL. DO. NOTHING.

So why are Democrats focused on assault rifles? Are they just completely clueless or do they, maybe, have an ulterior motive? I'd say a fair mix of both actually. Here's the sickest part though: by addressing the wrong issue, for whatever their reasons, they doom us all to a repeat lesson in evil 101.

Do you really think this will the last mass murder in America because the democrats passed a law that says assault rifles are banned? How could anyone be so naive? This is Barack Obama trying to look like he's doing something, like he has the power to stop evil. He isn't and he doesn't. This is political theater that will accomplish nothing. But at least Democrats will feel good and they won't have to talk about the economy for months.

The results are contradictory to anti-gun industry claims that relaxing the ban on assault weapons will cause more crime.

I was listening to NPR on the drive home from work yesterday and they had some liberal college professor talking about gun control. This professor freely admitted that the previous Clinton-era AWB had no measurable impact on crime whatsoever but that we needed one anyways because assault weapons "scare our national psyche" and "we'd feel better" if they were banned.

At least he was honest.

I think if you banned them....and a shooting happened six months later with the same type of results of a dozen school-kids dead....folks would feel better. That really demonstrates the nature of how far we’ve fallen as a society.

What I find more interesting is that no one admits that this was not the number one massacre of school kids in America. The media would like to avoid mentioning the Bath School killing of 1927.

To say handguns are the real weapons of mass destruction is outrageous. According to http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,152446,00.html 322,000 people per year are protected from great danger by a gun.
By contrast the medical profession kills about 750,000 people per year through negligence, prescription conflicts etc. Maybe we should outlaw allopathic doctors. They are the real weapon of mass destruction. See how stupid this becomes.

I’m simply keeping assault rifles in perspective. I think if we’re being honest, it’s blacks and Mexicans that are the true weapons of mass destruction in America but nobody wants to be that honest. Between the two of them, they probably account for 75% of all homicides. we can’t know for sure of course because the FBI considers Hispanics as either white or unknown. but we know. They don’t like to talk about murders by illegal aliens either for some reason. I wonder how many people died by illegal aliens in 2011? versus assault rifles?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.