Inconvenient Truth: You are more likely to be bludgeoned to death than killed with a rifle.
The FBI has released their crime data for 2018. In it you may be shocked that there were 14,123 murders reported to the FBI for data collection. By way of comparison the National Safety Counsel has estimated that there were 40,000 automobile fatalities in 2018.
Let’s take a look at some the the figures. Out of the 14,123 murders 10,265 were firearm related. That is a large number but it is a lower number than the last 2 years. If we break it down a little further 6,603 were from handguns, 297 were from rifles, 235 from shotguns and the remaining were either not reported or were some other type of firearm. Yes you read that right there were only 297 murders directly attributed to rifles. Here are some of the other numbers 1,515 murders from knifes or other cutting instruments, 443 blunt force (clubs, hammers, bats, etc.), 672 personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.). The balance is made up of poison, explosives, fire, narcotics, drowning, strangulation, asphyxiation, any other weapon not listed. Just doing some simple math you are 5.1 times more likely to be stabbed, you are 2.26 times more likely to be beaten to death by someone, and 1.49 times more likely to be bludgeoned to death than being killed by a rifle.
Let’s take a closer look at the hand gun numbers. Out of the 6,603 murders 1,059 started out as a felony crime before the murder happened. Four (4) rape, Three hundred thirty-three (333) robbery, Thirty-two (32) burglary, four (4) larceny, nine (9) motor vehicle theft, seven (7) arson, five (5) prostitution, two (2) other sex crimes, Three hundred sixty-seven (367) drugs, five gambling, and two hundred ninety-one (291) not specified. Three thousand fifty-seven (3,057) handgun murders did not start as a felony but ended in murder. Sixty-five (65) domestic violence, nineteen (19) someone was drunk, forty six (46) someone was high, ninety one (91) money or property argument, one thousand five hundred sixteen (1,516) some other type of argument, four hundred seventy five (475) gang related, eight hundred forty five (845) not sure how it started. Just looking at the ones that did not start as a felony 1,672 of them were people not communicating with each other.
For those who keep saying I don’t know why anyone needs a gun for protection. If the information above didn’t clear that up the fact that private citizens protected themselves or someone else with a firearm two hundred ninety eight (298) times. Law enforcement used a firearm to protect themselves or someone else four hundred seven (407) times. With the speed at which some confrontations escalate those private citizens could have been stats on the list of those who were murdered instead of justifiable homicide.
I am not trivializing any murder victim, however, the facts need to be clearly stated, the issue in todays society is not a particular object but society as a whole.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/topic-pages/expanded-offense