U.S. Murders: All 13,636; Hands and Feet 801; Assault Rifles: less than 348

[ccwinstructor]

It is often said that guns, particularly assault rifles, are designed for one thing, and one thing only: to kill lots of people.

Assault rifles in the United States are failing miserably in this purpose. There are tens of millions of assault rifles in America. Because the definition of an assault rifle has been rather fuzzy, the number can be said to be anywhere from 10 million to 30 million. Of those, the AR-15 type is fairly common with numbers between 5 and 10 million.

The FBI murder statistics do not differentiate between types of rifles. There are about 100 million rifles in the United States. In 2009, the last year in which numbers have been reported, there were 13,636 murders. Guns were used to murder 9,146 people. Hands and feet were used to murder 801 people. Blunt objects were used to murder 611 people. Rifles were used to murder 348 people, and that is all rifles, of which assault rifles are only a small fraction. Assault rifles are used so infrequently in homicides that many police departments almost never see them; in 2009, there were nine states that did not have a single murder committed with any rifle.

So why is the left so intent on banning rifles that are the most suitable for militia use (clearly protected by the U.S. Constitution), when they are used so rarely in murder? Banning baseball bats would make more sense, yet would be nearly as senseless.

It is this disassociation from facts and reality that lead many ordinary people to believe that when their government works to disarm them, it is up to no good.

Dean Weingarten

[davidmcbeth]

The FBI report concerning the Brady bill, when up for a re-vote, actually did talk about AR15 killings...so they must have started to keep records...but you're right, ARs have very low use in crimes.

[Ca Patriot]

On the show First 48 Hours the majority of murders are with guns. However, I can only remember 2 or 3 being from "assualt rifles" in the 10 years the show has been on.

I remember an episode from Miami where a murder was comitted with a Desert Eagle .50 handgun.

The detectives were saying this gun is so dangerous they had to find the killer quick and the gun "is only used to murder people". I bet in the history of Miami they have only had one murder with a .50

I would love to see stats on murders in America with .50 rifles or handguns.

[Jack House]

Assault rifle has a pretty specific definition. Assault weapon is the political scaremonger word that has no true definition and can easily be applied to almost every weapon ever.

[skidmark]

But ... but ... but - those "assault weapons" are scary! If we can ban everything scary perhaps we will no longer be scared.

Funny, but there are more people who are afraid of spiders than there are folks who are afraid of "assault weapons" - but has anyone heard even one word about banning spiders? (Full disclosure - I have. Female aquaintance would like to either kill them all or transport them to some distant planet that the human race will never visit and does not have beings who could send them back after they spent time mutating and evolving.)

stay safe.

[kcgunfan]

Can we have a cite please? I don't find the numbers surprising, and the analysis is spot on, but I'd like to be able to post the orginal numbers.

It is often said that guns, particularly assault rifles, are designed for one thing, and one thing only: to kill lots of people.

Assault rifles in the United States are failing miserably in this purpose. There are tens of millions of assault rifles in America. Because the definition of an assault rifle has been rather fuzzy, the number can be said to be anywhere from 10 million to 30 million. Of those, the AR-15 type is fairly common with numbers between 5 and 10 million.

The FBI murder statistics do not differentiate between types of rifles. There are about 100 million rifles in the United States. In 2009, the last year in which numbers have been reported, there were 13,636 murders. Guns were used to murder 9,146 people. Hands and feet were used to murder 801 people. Blunt objects were used to murder 611 people. Rifles were used to murder 348 people, and that is all rifles, of which assault rifles are only a small fraction. Assault rifles are used so infrequently in homicides that many police departments almost never see them; in 2009, there were nine states that did not have a single murder committed with any rifle.

So why is the left so intent on banning rifles that are the most suitable for militia use (clearly protected by the U.S. Constitution), when they are used so rarely in murder? Banning baseball bats would make more sense, yet would be nearly as senseless.

It is this disassociation from facts and reality that lead many ordinary people to believe that when their government works to disarm them, it is up to no good.

Dean Weingarten

[davidmcbeth]

Assault rifle has a pretty specific definition. Assault weapon is the political scaremonger word that has no true definition and can easily be applied to almost every weapon ever.

Also "high powered rifle" .. seems to be a new mantra ..

[Jack House]

But ... but ... but - those "assault weapons" are scary! If we can ban everything scary perhaps we will no longer be scared.

Funny, but there are more people who are afraid of spiders than there are folks who are afraid of "assault weapons" - but has anyone heard even one word about banning spiders? (Full disclosure - I have. Female aquaintance would like to either kill them all or transport them to some distant planet that the human race will never visit and does not have beings who could send them back after they spent time mutating and evolving.)

stay safe.

Are we voting to either ban or exterminate all arachnids? Because if so, you can count me as a yes.

I gotta say, though, the comparison of firearms with arachnids is a much welcome one! I'm getting tired of the old car cliches.

And while we're on the subject of banning scary things, let's also ban dolls. They're pure demonic. Remind me not to date/marry any women that are doll hobbyists.

Also "high powered rifle" .. seems to be a new mantra ..

I love how people are more scared of the pathetic little .22, excuse me I mean 5.56, than they are of a 12ga.

[ak56]

Clowns. Clowns are evil. We must ban clowns.

I don't know how many people have been killed by clowns, and I don't care. And I think this illustrates the reasoning of those who want to ban guns, "assault rifles", etc. It is not based on any logical reasoning; it has nothing to do with safety. If they don't like something, they will demonize it in any way they can. If they don't like it, they don't want you to have it. It's all about control. If they can control you by denying you something that you want, they feel superior.

[since9]

So why is the left so intent on banning rifles that are the most suitable for militia use (clearly protected by the U.S. Constitution), when they are used so rarely in murder?

Two reasons: Idiocy and deception, both rooted in unsubstantiated ideology.

Let's face it - some people really are idiots. They'll believe whatever they hear on the TV or what they read in print. If the liberal media controls the media, then they control the idiots, and by proxy, the idiots' votes.

Others aren't so much idiots as they are unscrupulous ideologists. At least one obviously intelligent and well-informed individual on this forum has nevertheless made so many glaring errors of logical fallacy, while being in possession of so many solidly-substantiated facts to the contrary, that the only logical conclusion one might have is they're choosing to believe in and perpetuate an ideology instead of the fact-based reality which counters it. Given their intelligence and their possession of knowledge, I am compelled to also conclude they're unscrupulous in their deception, primarily by appearing to ignore clear, irrefutable facts while continuing to perpetuate false and deception.

Either that or they're really in love with Obama. Could be a plant from one of his media teams, too. The Dems have been doing a lot of that in recent years. A dozen or so of them infiltrate the country Republican office in 2007-2008, and stole the entire voter database, among other information. Thankfully, controls were put in place to prevent such actions this time around. The fact remains, they have no moral integrity and are without a moral compass to guide their actions.

This is no better exemplified by the countless unscrupulous examples by the individual on these forums about whom I'm speaking. I'll refrain from naming them, as that would be a personal attack. Instead, those of us with half a brain figured it out long ago, so there's no point in throwing stones at anyone in particular.

Anyway, I could be completely wrong about this. Perhaps they're just a regular liberal with OCD and must have the last word against anything outside their realm of understanding which threatens that realm. Who knows? Time will tell.

[dthales]

Can we have a cite please? I don't find the numbers surprising, and the analysis is spot on, but I'd like to be able to post the orginal numbers.

Here is the link to the FBI stats referenced. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr...ables/table-20

[March Hare]

It is often said that guns, particularly assault rifles, are designed for one thing, and one thing only: to kill lots of people.

Assault rifles in the United States are failing miserably in this purpose. There are tens of millions of assault rifles in America. Because the definition of an assault rifle has been rather fuzzy, the number can be said to be anywhere from 10 million to 30 million. Of those, the AR-15 type is fairly common with numbers between 5 and 10 million.

The FBI murder statistics do not differentiate between types of rifles. There are about 100 million rifles in the United States. In 2009, the last year in which numbers have been reported, there were 13,636 murders. Guns were used to murder 9,146 people. Hands and feet were used to murder 801 people. Blunt objects were used to murder 611 people. Rifles were used to murder 348 people, and that is all rifles, of which assault rifles are only a small fraction. Assault rifles are used so infrequently in homicides that many police departments almost never see them; in 2009, there were nine states that did not have a single murder committed with any rifle.

So why is the left so intent on banning rifles that are the most suitable for militia use (clearly protected by the U.S. Constitution), when they are used so rarely in murder? Banning baseball bats would make more sense, yet would be nearly as senseless.

It is this disassociation from facts and reality that lead many ordinary people to believe that when their government works to disarm them, it is up to no good.

Dean Weingarten

An assault rifle is a selective fire (selectable among either fully automatic, burst-capable, or, sometimes, semi-automatic modes of operation) rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine.

I've seen exactly 5 of those in my entire life, those were in a collection.
Assault Rifles have been very heavily regulated since 1934.
The AR15 does not fit that category in any way.
Please STOP lumping it in with Assault Rifles, it isn't one!

/rant

-MH

edit: Sorry, I forgot that I saw a really nice Browning .30 Machine Gun recently while shooting near Four Peaks. That makes 6.