Hammers Are More Deadly Than Rifles According To FBI Statistics
More people are killed by hammers than rifles and shot guns on an annual basis, according crime statistics. In 2011, there were reportedly 496 Americans killed by a hammers and other blunt objects. The homicide chart also notes that gun murders comprised 68 percent of all homicides in 2011.
During the same year, a total of 323 people died due to a rifle wound, according to FBI statistics republished by MSN. The FBI statistics also note that 356 victims were killed with a shotgun. A total of 8,583 deaths during the same time period were reportedly firearm-related homicides.
The violent crime report appears to bolster the gun rights argument that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. While a hammer may only be able to kill multiple individuals at one time on the set of The Walking Dead, blunt force objects can be as deadly as gun when placed in the hands of a person bent on committing murder. The homicide chart created by the FBI also reports that a total of 1,694 people were killed by knives of sharp cutting instruments. Individuals who opted to kill another human being with just their bare hands or feet numbered 726.
Semiautomatic weapons such as the AR-15 used in the Newtown tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School have been selling out nationwide in recent weeks. Concerns that such weapons would be banned or come with a new tax attached have kept semiautomatic weapons and magazines flying off the shelves.
California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed banning such weapons after Newtown. The legislation proposal by Senator Feinstein would strengthen the 1994 assault weapons ban if passed. According to CBS News, the Democratic lawmaker had this to say after the ban expired in 1995:
“If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them, Mr. and Mrs. America turn them all in, I would have done it. I could not do that. The votes weren’t here.”
A new record for the FBI background checks required when purchasing a gun was set in December. A total of 2.78 million Americans requested a background check during the final month of 2012. November background checks set a new mark with 2.01 recorded requests. The figure was a 49 percent increase over the same month in 2011.
