FBI: More People Killed with Knives, Hammers, Clubs and Even Feet than Rifles in 2018

Despite the current narrative that gun violence resulting in homicide is at historic epidemic proportions, data from the FBI tells a far different story.

Two things come into focus when the hard data rather than mainstream induced hysteria is considered: Violent crimes are not at an all-time high and more people were killed with knives, hammers, clubs and even feet than rifles in 2018.

A recent FBI study shows there were 1,515 death due to knives or other cutting instruments as opposed to 297 people killed by rifles. In fact, 100 more people were killed with hammers and clubs than by rifles in 2018.

That doesn’t mean just semi-automatic or so-called ‘assault rifles, but by ALL rifles!

Even fists, feet, and other personal weapons accounted for three times the number of deaths as by rifles.

Nor should we buy into the media’s narrative that gun violence is at an all-time high. The Pew Research Center published “5 Facts about crime in the U.S.’ that showed “violent crime in the U.S. has fallen sharply over the past quarter-century.” The Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed a similar decline in property crime during the same period.

To further illustrate the effect the national media has on the whole gun control debate, John Gramlich of the Pew Research Center points out “public perceptions about crime in the U.S. often don’t align with the data.”

In a 2016 survey registered voters said crimes related to gun violence have gotten worse since 2008, but they didn’t have the same opinion about local crime. Gramlich said, “While perceptions of rising crime at the national level are common, fewer Americans tend to say crime is up when asked about the local level. In all 21 Gallup surveys that have included the question since 1996, no more than about half of Americans have said crime is up in their area compared with the year before.”

That does not mean gun violence is not a problem, but rather suggests voters not get caught up in Democrats’ push to take away guns from law-abiding citizens.

According to the FBI study, more people died by gun suicide than homicide. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), six-in-ten gun-related deaths in the U.S in 2017 were suicides (23,854), while 37% were murders (14,542). The rest were either unintentional (486), involved law enforcement (553) or had undetermined circumstances (338).

Even the number of gun suicides is down from 7.7 per 100,000 people to 6.9 per 100,000 since 1977.

When guns are used to commit homicide, handguns are used far more often than rifles. A study conducted jointly by a New Jersey intelligence center and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) showed that:

“Semiautomatic handguns are the weapon of choice for mass shootings.”

Despite this irrefutable hard data, the media, and liberal politicians continue to insist that eliminating AR-15’s will stop shootings likes the ones that happened in El Paso, TX, and Parkland, FL.

And Don’t forget Robert “Beto” O’Rourke and his bold, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.” Liberals like O’Rourke like to trumpet the fact 2017 saw the highest total number of gun deaths in America since the Bureau started recording such statistics. What they fail to mention is they aren’t considering the significant growth in our country’s population.

Yes, 12 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people in 2017 were the highest in 20 years. However, the highest rate the CDC has ever recorded was in 1974 when the rate was 16.3 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people.

So why focus on AR15’s and continue the narrative that Americans are out of control in their love for guns? Law Enforcement Today nails it when its editors write: “The overarching idea behind the ‘gun-control’ debate is this: The left wants to take away every last ability for citizens to defend themselves.”

Last week, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee conducted a 3 ½ hour hearing entitled “Protecting America From Assault Weapons.” During that hearing, the repetitive theme is that “Americans need protection from inanimate objects, and not from violent people with criminal tendencies.”

Not surprisingly, the conclusion of the Democratic leadership at that hearing was the need to repeal the 2^ndAmendment.

A false narrative leads to false conclusions.

All rifles (including “assault weapons) are used in only 2% of homicides. If Congress wants to ban something, perhaps a good place to start is at knives, clubs, and feet.