Although most of us realize that people have been killing each other since long before rifles, some still don’t. As with years prior, the recent FBI UCR (Uniform Crime Report) for 2020 demonstrates this fact, again.

FBI 2020 Uniform Crime Report

While politicians and celebrities run the propaganda machine in high gear, reality tells another story entirely. According to the recent report from the FBI, more than two and a half times as many people were killed by a knife than a rifle of any kind. Additionally, “personal weapons” add to the list of things more likely to be used in a homicide than rifles. Personal weapons are defined by the FBI as hands, fists, feet, etc.

According to the report, 877 people were killed via a knife or cutting instrument in 2020. Conversely, only 318 people were killed by a rifle of any kind. Even if you add the 124 shotgun related deaths to the total, you still only come up with 442. This is just slightly over half of the deaths due to a knife or cutting instrument.

To make matters worse for legislators looking to demonize “assault rifles,” there were 415 deaths related to hands and feet. While this number doesn’t completely eclipse the number of rifle related deaths, it does demonstrate a picture contrary to the narrative, by almost 100 deaths.

Although in 2020 deaths by blunt objects remained relatively unchanged from 2019, the 2019 blunt object totals outnumbered rifle deaths. Comparatively, in 2019 there were 195 blunt object related deaths and 179 due to rifles.

In 2020, deaths due to blunt objects rose slightly to 203, while rifle deaths saw a more marked increase. However, considering that blunt objects tend to be a weapon of opportunity, one could make the case that this total further demonstrates that the rifle is not the go to weapon of choice for homicides.

Death by Any Means

As I ponder this information, rational thought dictates that it is not the tool but man that is responsible. It calls to mind the words of a very wise man.

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” – Albert Einstein