The FBI gun crime stats for 2009 are out today... [View All]

[benEzra]

...and I don't think the vultures are going to celebrate them. Crime, including gun crime, continued to decline in spite of the bad economy.


http://www.fbi.gov/page2/september10/crime_091310.html

Rifle homicide declined again to what is probably an all time low, even though "assault weapons" accounted for the majority of civilian rifles sold, just as they have for the last several years. All styles of rifles combined, including so-called "assault weapons", accounted for only 2.55% of murders in 2009, or 348 out of 13,636.

Detailed breakdown:

Total murders...........................13,636.....100.00%
Handguns.................................6,452......47.32%
Firearms (type unknown)..................1,928......14.14%
Other weapons (non-firearm, non-edged)...1,864......13.67%
Edged weapons............................1,825......13.38%
Hands, feet, etc...........................801.......5.87%
Shotguns...................................418.......3.07%
Rifles.....................................348.......2.55%

It appears that those evil protruding rifle handgrips haven't caused the sky to fall after all...