A (temporary) going-away post....the FBI Uniform Crime Reports 2010 are out.

[benEzra]

I'm going to be out of the loop for a few weeks, but I wanted to post this first. The FBI Uniform Crime Reports for 2010 are out, and I am always interested in the breakdown by weapon type (usually Table 20 in the UCR).

There's not much change from the last few years. Once again, rifles are the least likely class of weapon to be used in homicides, ranking behind shotguns, fists/feet, blades, impact weapons, and handguns.

Table 20 - Murder, by State, Types of Weapons, 2010

Total murders...........................12,996.....100.00%
Handguns.................................6,009......46.24%
Firearms (type unknown)..................2,035......15.66%
Other weapons (non-firearm, non-edged)...1,772......13.63%
Edged weapons............................1,704......13.11%
Hands, feet, etc...........................745.......5.73%
Shotguns...................................373.......2.87%
Rifles.....................................358.......2.75%

If one assumes that the handgun/shotgun/rifle breakdown in the "firearm, type not recorded" row is similar to the breakdown where the type was recorded, then the percentages with "unknowns" rolled in would look something like this:

Total murders...........................12,996.....100.00%
Handguns.................................6,950......53.48%
Firearms (type unknown)..................2,035......15.66%
Other weapons (non-firearm, non-edged)...1,772......13.63%
Edged weapons............................1,704......13.11%
Hands, feet, etc...........................745.......5.73%
Shotguns...................................431.......3.32%
Rifles.....................................414.......3.19%

The 6-year trend in rifle homicides, 2005-2010:

2005: 442
2006: 436
2007: 450
2008: 375
2009: 348
2010: 358

I don't have much commentary here, except to say that I think the AWB concept is dead beyond resurrection.

[krispos42]

1. But.... but... but....

...assault magazines...firepower potential...designed specifically for killing people...black rifles...pistol grip...bayonet lug...blood in the streets...guns in national parks...no sporting purpose...makes killing too easy...tailor-made for mass shootings...derp derp derp derp wharrrrble

[krispos42]

2. red dot scopes! nt/

[ileus]

18. Don't forget the special accessories that make tactical gun appeal to the basers.

[Hoopla Phil]

22. "bullet hose", you forgot "bullet hose".

[teddy51]

3. I have never posted on this form before, but got to reiterate that

"GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE". I don't give a rats ass how many guns, or what kind of guns.... It's always the people. The bullshit about gun control, is just that.... bullshit.

[iverglas]

27. wow, that was ...

trenchant.

Just had to say it.

[Callisto32]

32. You're the expert....

[safeinOhio]

No break down of how many

of those murders were committed by prohibited people using handguns? I'd bet it is way more than 50%.

[tortoise1956]

10. I'm sure it is much higher than 50%

Which would mean that the relatively small class of criminals are much more lawless than the extremely large class of legal gun owners.

I'm glad to see we both feel that way. Thanks!

:applause:

[benEzra]

11. >50% of the handgun number you mean? No doubt.

That's probably true of all classes of weapons.

I don't have time to week through the city of Chicago's website for the latest release, but the Chicago PD's 2008 stats said that about 90% of people arrested for murder had prior arrest records. Murder is rarely someone's first crime, or even their first serious crime.

This was the link for the 2008 stats, but it's now dead:

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_EDITORIAL/March08CrimeStats.pdf

[SteveM]

23. Oh, no doubt most are crims & thugs. Crims & thugs commit most murders, too. nt

[russ1943]

28. Re#10, 11 & 23

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics
Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2006. May 2010, NCJ 228944. Since 1988 the Bureau of Justice Statistics has sponsored a biennial collection of data on felony cases processed in state courts in the nation’s 75 largest counties. In 2006, 37% of the U.S. population resided in these counties. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report, these same counties also accounted for 49% of all serious violent crimes and 41% of all serious property crimes reported in the United States. https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=250971

In the nation’s 75 largest counties, an estimated 58,100 defendants were charged with a felony offense in May 2006.
The percentage of all felony defendants with a prior felony conviction record increased from 36% in 1990 to 43% in 2006.
Forty-three percent of all felony defendants had at least one prior felony conviction.

The percentage of MURDER defendants with a prior felony conviction was 42%. That is less than 50%.
81% had been arrested at least once, but that’s not enough to prohibit legal firearm purchase.
69% had been arrested more than once but that also isn’t enough to prohibit firearm purchase.
56% had at least one prior conviction & 43% multiple convictions but unless their conviction was for a felony or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, not prohibitive of firearm purchase.
I repeat 42% murder defendants had a prior felony conviction.

Lots of thugs and criminals with arrest records and even conviction records but most aren’t disqualified from legally buying firearms.

[MADem]

4. Forgive me for being a terminology dunce, but what is the AWB concept? TIA. nt

[X_Digger]

5. Assault Weapon Ban (or Average White Band).. n/t

[MADem]

9. I couldn't get that funky music outta my head!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aGBXrJ6e34&feature=related

Good stuff!

Thanks, though! It was obvious once stated!

[benEzra]

6. Yes, "Assault Weapons Ban."

Which boils down to banning civilian rifles (usually lower-powered ones) with handgrips and magazines that stick out, nontraditional muzzle accessories (flash suppressors instead of brakes or compensators), etc. on the grounds that they are an existential threat to public safety, "the weapons of choice of criminals", "only useful for mass murder", etc. Contrary to the media meme, they're rarely used in homicides.

The difference between "assault weapons" and "sporting rifles"...




I shoot this centerfire .22 (Rock River Arms LAR-15), so I do have a direct interest re: proposed rifle bans.

[MADem]

12. Spelled out, I'm cognizant...honestly, I really was stuck on "Average White Band."

Showing my years!

So obvious to me now!

[krispos42]

7. Refers to the now-expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban

Some states passed their own versions of it and their versions are still in effect. Basically, it says that semi-automatic (or, if you prefer, self-loading) firearms could only have a certain number of features.

These features were either cosmetic or ergonomic, but because they make the guns look "tactical" instead of "sporting", they took the heat of legislators. :shrug:

<snip>

Definition of assault weapon

Assault weapon refers primarily (but not exclusively) to firearms that had been developed from earlier fully automatic firearms into semi-automatic civilian-legal versions. Semi-automatic firearms, when fired, automatically extract the spent cartridge casing and load the next cartridge into the chamber, ready to fire again; they do not fire automatically like a machine gun, rather, only 1 round is fired with each trigger pull.

By former U.S. law, the legal term assault weapon included certain specific semi-automatic firearm models by name (e.g., Colt AR-15, TEC-9, non-automatic AK-47s produced by three manufacturers, and Uzis) and other semi-automatic firearms because they possess a minimum set of cosmetic features from the following list of features:

Semi-automatic rifles able to accept detachable magazines and two or more of the following:

• Folding or telescoping stock
  
• Pistol grip
  
• Bayonet mount
  
• Flash suppressor, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate one
  
• Grenade launcher (more precisely, a muzzle device which enables the launching or firing of rifle grenades)

Semi-automatic pistols with detachable magazines and two or more of the following:

• Magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip
  
• Threaded barrel to attach barrel extender, flash suppressor, handgrip, or suppressor
  
• Barrel shroud that can be used as a hand-hold
  
• Unloaded weight of 50 oz (1.4 kg) or more
  
• A semi-automatic version of an automatic firearm

Semi-automatic shotguns with two or more of the following:

• Folding or telescoping stock
  
• Pistol grip
  
• Fixed capacity of more than 5 rounds
  
• Detachable magazine

<more>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban#Definition_of_assault_weapon

[tularetom]

8. An old standard but somehow always appropriate

[krispos42]

14. Oooo, you've got a typo on there

Fixed it for ya...

[MADem]

13. Thanks.

It just wasn't computing--I actually did have a working (not great, but not awful) knowledge of AWB, but I my brain got stuck on seventies music!

[krispos42]

15. Earworm bit ya?

:-)

http://soundfxnow.com/soundfx/SeventiesPornMusic-DebbieDoesDallas.mp3

[MADem]

21. I kept hearing "Pick Up The Pieces" in my head! nt

[Logical]

16. No doubt handguns make it much easier to kill someone. But no way to get...

Rid of them at this point. Even if we wanted too.

[Euromutt]

17. I have to wonder about the "Firearm (type unknown)" category...

I mean, I know CSI: Crime Scene Investigation isn't a realistic representation of the state of criminal forensics, but how hard can it be, even for a county/municipal-level law enforcement agency, to determine whether the vic's GSWs are consistent with a pistol, rifle or shotgun round? Admittedly, there's some blurring of those categories, what with pistol-caliber carbines, unstocked short-barreled rifles legally classed as handguns (like the OlyArms K23-series), and inexplicably popular .410 revolvers like the Taurus Judge and S&W Governor, but surely that can't account for over 15% of homicides.

Incidentally, I note the number of recorded firearm murders is well below 10,000 for the year, which means, assuming an increase in population, the firearm murder rate must have shown an even more marked decline. Given the economic climate, it's a safe bet that domestic murder-suicides are up, which means gang/drug/organized crime murders must be way down.

[krispos42]

19. I'll be it's the .22 rimfires.

Phoenix Arms HP22? Ruger 10/22? Who knows?

[Euromutt]

29. Good point

There are a great many firearms chambered for .22LR, and it's probably the most common chambering in privately owned firearms both in the US and elsewhere. I recall reading a post on a blog or discussion forum where the author pointed out that it's the caliber involved in the largest number of gunshot woundings in the US, not because it's so powerful, but because there are so many more weapons chambered for it than any other caliber, not to mention the number of adapters available for weapons originally made for other calibers. For example, I own a Ruger 22/45 Mk.III pistol, and a "Remington" (actually Zastava) Model 5 Youth rifle, which are both dedicated .22LR firearms, but I also have a CZ85 9x19mm pistol and an OlyArms K3B (AR carbine) in 5.56x45 for which I have .22 adapters (the Kadet and the "RFA" replacement bolt/bolt carrier, resp.).

So yeah, if the cops find a corpse with one or more .22-cal bullets in him and no immediately identifiable murder weapon, they'd have to report it "type unknown" because it could be just about anything, even a zip gun or other improvised firearm (there was a case a few years ago here in Washington state in which the defendant had committed a self-defense shooting by placing a .22LR cartridge in one end of a bicycle steering tube and whacking it with a hammer; that the shooting was in self-defense was not disputed, but the defendant had a felony conviction and the prosecution alleged that his possessing the bicycle part and the hammer constituted illegal possession of a firearm).

[benEzra]

20. I wonder if the "firearm, type unknown" line comes mostly from nonspecific reporting.

e.g., where the firearm type is known to local investigators, but they didn't report more specific info to FBI for whatever reason. Say an investigator merely fills in "firearm" on the "type of weapon used" line on the form in the UCR system or whatever; I'd imagine that would go in the "type unknown" category.

[SteveM]

24. Thanks for the annual update. See you in a few weeks! nt

[aikoaiko]

25. As always thank you for your level headed contribution to the DU gun policy debate

Well done.

[iverglas]

26. allow me to ask once again

even if it is for the umpteenth time:

Why are homicide statistics the only information worth looking at? Why do you never, ever consider the use or possession of long arms to commit or facilitate crimes or cause other harms?

Look over here! Homicide statistics! No, don't look over there ...

[benEzra]

30. Because the homicide stats are by far the best reported and the least subjective

We do have data on rifle misuse in nonlethal assaults, possession by criminals, use in crimes, etc. going back years, but it is much spottier. The BATFE Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Survey comes to mind. The trends mirror the homicide stats; long guns are less misused in nonlethal assaults and other crimes than other weapons are (presumably due to the sheer inconvenience of getting rifles to crime scenes), and rifles tend to be somewhat less misused than shotguns.

I suppose that if you want to focus specifically on the crime of poaching, then I suppose rifles and shotguns would be overrepresented compared to handguns, edged weapons, and impact weapons...but that's about it.

[iverglas]

31. nah, sorry

Homicide is a particular crime. Nothing can be generalized from homicide statistics to any other situation.

Some homicides occur during the commission of other crimes, e.g. robbery -- where handguns are specifically more likely to be used than long arms, in the mugging or home invasion type of robbery. This is one obvious reason for the over-representation of handguns in homicides: the rate of homicides committed during robbery in the US is quite high. The portability and concealability of the weapon is a major factor there. And of course that's the huge reason why there should be extra-stringent controls on access to handguns.

But that says nothing about the way that firearms facilitate other crimes, and the fact that THEY DO facilitate other crimes is a perfectly relevant consideration in reflecting on how they should be regulated.

When drug traffickers other than streetcorner operators are apprehended, the weapons in their trunks or their closets, or the arsenal of weapons at their grow-ops or on their premises, will virtually always include long arms. For example.

They choose those weapons, and I choose not to believe they make the choice based on the decorative or investment value of the items.

[benEzra]

34. Umm, they primarily choose handguns, not rifles. Here is some solid ATF data for *POSSESSION*.

I refer you to the BATFE Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative dataset, tables 2 and 4, and the associated figures. These cover *possession*, not just misuse.

http://www.atf.gov/publications/download/ycgii/2000/ycgii-report-2000-general-findings.pdf

Check out Table 2, which is possession data. 76.7% of guns possessed by criminals (even nonviolent ones) were handguns. Only 11.3% were rifles of any type (including deer rifles, rimfires and "assault weapons") and 10.5% were shotguns.

The long gun data is further broken down by weapon type (rifle or shotgun) and caliber, which give broad outlines of what classes of rifles and shotguns we're seeing. From Table 4:

Long Gun Type and Caliber - All Ages

Shotgun 12 GA...........6,854...............35.5%
Rifle .22...............4,076...............21.1%
Rifle 7.62mm............1,729................9.0%
Shotgun 20 GA...........1,277................6.6%
Rifle .30-30..............616................3.2%
Shotgun .410 GA...........615................3.2%
Rifle .223................599................3.1%
Rifle 9mm.................412................2.1%
Rifle .30-06..............410................2.1%
Shotgun 16 GA.............409................2.1%
Top Ten Long Guns......16,997...............88.0%
All Long Guns..........19,311..............100.0%

Oh my, it appears that the 12-gauge shotgun tops the list. And to the further detriment of the "assault weapons are of the debbil" meme, .22 rimfires took the #2 slot, by a wide margin. (Note that .223, the dominant centerfire .22, is listed separately, so that #2 slot is rimfires). The .223 caliber, of course, includes AR-15's, mini-14's, SU-16's, .223 AK's, and such; those are way down in seventh place.

The 7.62mm category (third place) includes both the low-powered 7.62x39mm (AK, SKS, Mini Thirty) and the higher powered 7.62x51mm/.308 Winchester, a common hunting/target caliber that is also used in a few protrudy-magaziney rifles like the FAL, Springfield M1A, and such. .30-30's are lever-action cowboy-style guns in the mold of the Winchester Model 1894, which traces its lineage to the 1861 Henry Repeating Rifle.

And I know this is not new data to you; we have discussed it many times previously.

[Atypical Liberal]

33. I'm not sure...

I can't see who you are responding to, but I gather this is the usual retreat-from-the-facts that we see here all the time.

Homicide data clearly show that rifles are hardly ever used to commit homicides. So then it just must be that they are really being used in lots of other non-lethal crimes instead. Well, no, that turns out not to be the case, too. Oh. Well then. It must be that they are just used in lots and lots of unreported crimes.

You'll notice that it is never a facts-based argument from their point of view. They never present any counter-data to support their claim, they just keep retreating from the data that debunks their claim.

The reason, of course, is simple and obvious: There is no data to support their point of view.