Friday, December 21, 2012

Here’s the Chart That Supporters of a Federal Assault Weapons Ban Won’t Want to See

This is why we killed the Long Gun Registry in Canada

  • While anti-gun advocates argue that banning semi-automatic rifles, like the popular AR-15, will help decrease shooting deaths in the U.S., FBI data suggests that the average American is more likely to be killed by “hands, fists” or “feet” than a rifle. The anti-gun crowd has intensified its calls for a federal assault weapons ban following the tragedy in Newtown, Conn. last week.

“Yes, massacres tend to be done with weapons like this. But not most gun murders in the U.S.: a vast majority of gun murders in the U.S. are committed with a handgun,” The Washington Examiner’s Timothy Carney writes.

FBI Data Shows Only Small Number of Murders in U.S. Committed With Rifles

(Source: Washington Examiner/FBI)

As you can see in the chart pictured above, the vast majority of murders in the U.S. are indeed committed with handguns, not rifles. More people were killed with shotguns (373), knifes/blades (1,704) and “other weapon[s]” (1,772) more often than they were with rifles in 2010, which were reportedly used in 358 murders that year.

Whether it’s a knife, gun or a fist, will a “ban” of any kind sway a deranged individual’s decision to take human lives?

(H/T: Weasel Zippers)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another stupid comment. Most murders are gang style shootings are targeted at an individual. It is much easier to hide a hand gun then an assault rifle. The point is guns are made to kill people so any gun that doesn't have another legitimate purpose should be banned. Rifles are used for hunting so I would leave them alone. Handguns is a tough one is although the rules should be extremely strict for owning them I do believe target shooting is a legitimate reason, but I would support requiring it be left at the range in locked location, not carried home with the owner. For collectors, fill in the barrel so they are unusable.

Thucydides said...

Handguns have been under various forms of rastriction since the 1930's in both Canada and the US, so we have 80 years of experience telling us restrictions don't work very well.

But for control advocates, it isn'y about data; it's about controlling people.

BillM said...

To Anonymous
In the US based on the FBI's statistics guns mostly handguns are used in the prevention of crimes over a million times a year.

The rate of robberies where the victim is present is 14% where concealed handguns are permitted versus 80% where the peerp knows the victim is helpless.

If you want to test this disarm the guys who transport cash around. Let's see how it goes. PS you may have a problem recruiting guards.