Sunday, December 16, 2012

How People Are Murdered in the United States

Despite news media impressions to the contrary, there are not many murders in the United States that are committed with rifles or shotguns. Combined, it is under 1,000 per year---more people are murdered with knives. FBI data shows that most murders are done with handguns. Random killings are very rare, most are between people who know each or rival gang members. In other words, stay out of areas, such as parts of Rahamland, and your chance of being killed by a stranger is very, very slim.  Further data to contemplate: In 32% of the murders in 2010, no firearm was used.

Weapons20062007200820092010
Total15,08714,91614,22413,75212,996
Total firearms:10,22510,1299,5289,1998,775
Handguns7,8367,3986,8006,5016,009
Rifles438453380351358
Shotguns490457442423373
Other guns107116819696
Firearms, type not stated1,3541,7051,8251,8281,939
Knives or cutting instruments1,8301,8171,8881,8361,704
Blunt objects (clubs, hammers, etc.)618647603623540
Personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.)1841869875817745
Poison12109711
Explosives111124
Fire117131859874
Narcotics4852345239
Drowning121216810
Strangulation13713489122122
Asphyxiation106109878498
Other weapons or weapons not stated1,1401,005999904874
Posted by at 1:49 PM

24 comments:

  1. Is this chart including suicides?

    It's important to know, because I've seen tally reports over the years that categorize suicides in with firearm deaths--
    If they are included, it changes the character of the information substantially...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I don't believe so. I didn't see stats from the FBI but if you look here: http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html#2005 it would appear there are more suicides by firearm than total murders.

      Delete

    2. No, the FBI statistics are clearly labeled as homicides.
      Here is the link for 2011 figures: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-11

      8583 people were murdered with firearms: 6220 handguns, 323 rifles, 356 shotguns, 1684 other/not stated.
      1694 were murdered w/ knives or cutting instruments.
      496 were murdered w/ blunt objects (clubs, hammers, etc.).

      Delete

  2. Notice the steady decline in murders year after year, regardless of method.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Note the year 2011 is not included ... even though this was published in the end of 2012.

      Delete

  3. Also, for perspective, please list annual number of deaths due to car accidents, fires and... medical errors. Also, I enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Uh, car accidents are just that. Who cares? Homocides and suicides by firearms is most relevant considering that their sole purpose is for killing people. Guns weren't invented to target practice.

      Delete

    2. Wow... sole purpose killing people? Bigot...

      Delete

    3. Well, he is correct about the reason for inventing the firearm. Originally, they were invented as a weapon of war. It was later on that they started using them for hunting too...

      Delete

    4. Yes.. noisy, horse scaring, smoky things that were best at hitting walls. not really much good in one to one combat as they were horribly inaccurate, unless you were in really close.

      Delete

  4. It would be good to know how many deaths-by-handgun were the result of a victim killing a perp. Somehow that is a number which is very difficult to find.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Bingo. And it's that way on purpose.

      Delete

  5. look how many more murders there are with "knives or cutting instruments" than rifles. Point that out next time you hear some moron say "assault" rifles should be banned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Few people are killed (privately) with bombs and other ordnance - should they be free and legal to individuals who can afford them?

      Delete

  6. i hate hearing the media say the killer used an 'assault weapon' and how we must reinstate the clinton assault weapons ban to stop future mass murders like this one in newtown ... and then fail to mention that connecticut has had the clinton assault weapons ban since 1994, ct state legislature made it permanant and it never expired here.

    we cant own the guns here that theyre claiming we can and enacting an assault weapons ban wouldnt change a single law in this state.

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  7. Can you also post this on lewrockwell? We need to make these stats go viral to help win the pr war about assault rifles

    ReplyDelete

  8. Anon: "Also, for perspective, please list annual number of deaths due to car accidents, fires and... medical errors ..."

    We know the numbers for state medical errors and negligence here in the UK: 1000 a month, 12,000 a year.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/doctors-basic-errors-are-killing-1000-patients-a-month-7939674.html

    Say the US population is 5 times greater, pro rata that would be 5000 a month and 60,000 a year over there. In plain contrast to Sandy Hook, this story of NHS mass-killing goes unremarked by the talking heads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I'm afraid that might be barking up the wrong tree. While it's tempting to say "we shouldn't adopt an NHS style health care system because of these preventable death statistics" it looks like the US actually has more preventable deaths per capita than the UK.

      http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080408085458.htm
      http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/justice/hs.xsl/8677.htm

      That might still be a valid criticism of government intervention in the health care delivery system but it's not unique to the NHS.

      Delete

  9. We really need to make this go viral bc the media is intentionally painting the picture that tons of people are killed every year with rifles instead of 358. I think this is the most damning counter point against the gun banning fascists.

    ReplyDelete

  10. http://www.gallup.com/poll/150341/record-low-favor-handgun-ban.aspx

    Here is the reason "assault rifles" are targeted instead of the firearm involved in most murder - and usually related to fighting over drug turf - pistols. Check out the polling results. Most americans were opposed when this poll took place to banning "assault rifles," but close to 4/5 were opposed to banning pistols. It is the reason Sarah Brady had to rename "handgun control inc" and stop talking about banning pistols.

    ReplyDelete

  11. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-8

    Latest FBI stats that include 2011. 323 were murdered with a rifle in 2011!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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  13. one has to be careful of the aquintance data since often when asked did you know the person killed in gang related killings the answer was yes. so theyare marked as aquintance deaths.

    ReplyDelete

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