Lawmakers love to say that guns are a leading source of violence. But a major study just completely busted their narrative.

Based on the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (description below) the majority of violent crime does not involve the use of firearms.

Huh. Go figure.

Except for homicides, most violent crime involved personal weapons or knives or blunt objects or motor vehicles with large numbers falling into the “other” or “unknown weapons” categories.

There were 86,210 assaults involving firearms versus 1,22,640 non-firearm assaults.

There were 33,436 robberies with firearms versus 46,276 knives, personal weapons, all others and no weapon/force involved.

No weapon or force involved (bottom line of chart) exceeds firearm use for assaults and sex offenses.

And very few sex offenses involved firearms.

Chart:

Violent Crime and Firearms

Other Federal Sources

Based on the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, about 1 in 5 (21%) of all state and federal prisoners reported that they had possessed or carried a firearm when they committed the offense for which they were serving time in prison. More than 1 in 8 (13%) of all prisoners had used a firearm by showing, pointing, or discharging it during the offense for which they were imprisoned, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

About 70 percent of all homicides and eight percent of all nonfatal violent victimizations (rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault) were committed with a firearm, mainly a handgun. A handgun was used in about 7 in 10 firearm homicides in 2011.

In the same year, about 26 percent of robberies and 31 percent of aggravated assaults involved a firearm, such as handguns, shotguns or rifles, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Conclusions

This article is based on commentators believing that the majority of violent crime is firearm based while data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the US Department of Justice indicate otherwise.

New FBI numbers from the National Incident Based Reporting System (crimes reported to law enforcement) solidify findings from BJS. The FBI numbers have caveats that need to be taken into consideration such as the current numbers of participating agencies or multiple categories of weapon use.

Use of a firearm is a deliberate choice on the part of criminal offenders that could/should be used to judge the seriousness of the crime for sentencing purposes.

The FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)-Background

Implemented to improve the overall quality of crime data collected by law enforcement, NIBRS captures details on each single crime incident, as well as on separate offenses within the same incident, including information on victims, known offenders, relationships between victims and offenders, arrestees, and property involved in crimes. Unlike data reported through the UCR Program’s traditional Summary Reporting System, an aggregate monthly tally of crimes, NIBRS goes much deeper because of its ability to provide circumstances and context for crimes like location, time of day, and whether the incident was cleared.

As recommended by professional law enforcement organizations, the FBI has made nationwide implementation of NIBRS a top priority because NIBRS can provide more useful statistics to promote constructive discussion, measured planning, and informed policing.

The vision for NIBRS is for it to become the law enforcement community’s standard for quantifying crime, which will help law enforcement and communities around the country use resources more strategically and effectively. In 2018, approximately 44 percent of U.S. law enforcement agencies that participated in the UCR Program submitted data via NIBRS.

When used to its full potential, NIBRS identifies, with precision, when and where crime takes place, what form it takes, and the characteristics of its victims and perpetrators. Armed with such information, law enforcement can better define the resources it needs to fight crime, as well as use those resources in the most efficient and effective manner.

NIBRS, 2018, is available at FBI.

More information about the NIBRS transition is available on the NIBRS webpage at FBI.

See More

See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.

Want further proof that law abiding gun owners aren’t the problem? Check out what LET staff writer and retired officer Leah Anaya wrote about the massive 2A rally in Virginia this week.

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The rally was considered extremely successful with a much higher attendance rate than was even expected. No fights. No violence. Not even one gun jumped out on its own accord and shot anyone! Much to the dismay of people who were counting on instigating violence to push their gun grabbing agenda.

There was a section where people had to be unarmed to stand in, so they unarmed themselves before standing in it. There was a line where those carrying firearms could not cross. So, they didn’t.

There was, I admit, one arrest during the over 3-hour rally. A 21-year-old woman, Mikaela Beschler, was arrested for violating the anti-mask law despite her being warned to remove a bandana from her face twice.

If the rally was one of racism, then there sure are a lot of black, Asian, and Hispanic people out there that are down with white supremacy.

Among other impressive signs waved were those reading, “Gun rights are Women’s rights,” “Armed minorities are harder to oppress,” and “Gun rights are Trans rights.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) was apparently fuming over her view that there were “almost no police” present at the rally. Oh, really.

“On MLK day!” AOC began.

As if the rallyists chose when to have Lobby Day. Please.

“When we go out and march for the dignity and the recognition of the lives of people like Freddie Gray and Eric Garner, the whole place is surrounded by police in riot gear without a gun in sight. And here are all of these people flying Confederate flags, with semi-automatic weapons, and there’s almost no police officers at that protest.”

So, so many things are wrong with that sentence.

First, a reminder that Freddie Gray and Eric Garner were black men that died in police custody in Baltimore and New York, respectively. The riots after those incidents were filled with violence, looting, damaging businesses, throwing bottles, bricks, and other dangerous objects at police.

Almost 500 people were arrested in the Baltimore rally and over 100 police officers were injured. Almost 300 businesses were damaged, almost 100 cars were set on fire, almost $9 million in damage was done.

Police were in riot gear at those incidents because people were rioting.

For all her claiming to hate racism, she sure is being pretty damn stereotypical (or, racist) against white people. Not every person who wants to protect their right to bear arms is an undereducated redneck, watching Nascar, chewing on pieces of straw and spitting their chewing tobacco at black and gay people that walk by.

She added, “Who or what are our institutions protecting from whom? That image conveys it all.”

Well, AOC, I believe our institutions are protecting law abiding citizens, from non-law-abiding citizens. From criminals. From people who claim to be marching for some type of rights or other but really just getting together and looting stores or starting violence.

And now for the biggest load of crap in her statement: “almost no police at that protest.”

She must not have noticed that since people were acting peacefully and kind, no police needed to step in to put an end to any violence. Contrary to every single event Antifa has ever showed up at. Police helicopters swarmed around the huge gathering. Officers with long-range guns were stationed atop nearby roofs. Increased police presence on the ground was noted by attendees and reporters, including on foot, in cars, and on bikes.

AOC must have missed police because they were standing IN the rally, side by side with the attendees. Photographs were captured and plastered all over social media of uniformed officers in attendance, working to keep the rally safe, as well as supporting 2A rights along with others.

Again, no violence.

Grayson County Sheriff Richard Vaughan spoke out about the rights of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms.

“If the bills go through as proposed,” he said, “they will not be enforced. They are unconstitutional. We support upholding the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Virginia. That’s what we will do.”

Preach, Sheriff!

Sheriff Vaughan and several of his deputies and Sheriffs from other counties held up a sign that said, “WE SUPPORT THE SECOND AMENDMENT.”

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Virginia Governor Northam released a statement after the successful ending of the rally:

“We are all thankful that today passed without incident. The teams successfully de-escalated what could have been a volatile situation. This resulted from weeks of planning and extensive cooperation among state, local, and federal partners in Virginia and beyond.

“Virginia’s law enforcement and first responders demonstrated tremendous professionalism. I’m proud of their work. I have spoken with Colonel Settle of the State Police, Colonel Pike of the Capitol Police, and Chief Smith of the Richmond Police Department, as well as leaders of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office, and thanked them for keeping Virginia safe.

“Thousands of people came to Richmond to make their voices heard. Today showed that when people disagree, they can do so peacefully. The issues before us evoke strong emotions, and progress is often difficult. I will continue to listen to the voices of Virginians, and I will continue to do everything in my power to keep our Commonwealth safe.

Wow, there is so much up and down in his words. First of all, there was nothing to de-escalate! Stop trying to make people who want to exercise their right to carry look like the enemy!

What he’s saying in that last sentence is this: I don’t give a crap what the voices of Virginians say, I don’t want people to have guns and I’m going to keep pushing for this legislation.

Good luck enforcing those, Governor.

Watching Virginia made me so proud. I’m so proud to be a patriot, I’m so proud of my fellow 2A advocates for maintaining peace while exercising their First Amendment rights. The “women’s” march sported vagina hats, foul language all over the place, “twerking,” and children being sexualized and used as game pieces for social media. Cities had to spend thousands of dollars cleaning up after their disgusting messes, while attendees of Monday’s rally actually stood and picked up their trash after the rally was over.

One important side note. President Trump, like him or not, is American through and through. He is a supporter of American citizens’ rights, including the Second Amendment.

In a tweet following the Virginia rally, he said, “I will NEVER allow our great Second Amendment to go unprotected, not even a little bit!”

Damn right.

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